Court Opinion

ID: 9556186
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-16 16:00:42.160198+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:41:26.133274
License: Public Domain

United States Court of Appeals
                             For the Eighth Circuit
                          ___________________________

                                No. 22-2034
                        ___________________________

                            United States of America

                                      Plaintiff - Appellee

                                        v.

                                  Luis Olivares

                                   Defendant - Appellant
                                 ____________

                     Appeal from United States District Court
                    for the District of South Dakota - Western
                                   ____________

                            Submitted: April 10, 2023
                             Filed: August 16, 2023
                                 [Unpublished]
                                 ____________

Before SMITH, Chief Judge, MELLOY and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges.
                              ____________

PER CURIAM.

       In 2014, Luis Olivares was convicted of three drug-related crimes and three
firearm-related crimes. The district court determined Olivares was subject to a
mandatory life sentence based upon two prior drug convictions. See 21 U.S.C.
§ 841(b)(1)(A) (2002). Olivares appealed and this court affirmed. United States v.
Olivares, 843 F.3d 752, 763 (8th Cir. 2016). In 2021, Olivares filed the present
motion for resentencing, arguing changes in law made after his sentence, through
the passage of the First Step Act, Pub. L. No. 115-391, § 401, 132 Stat. 5194, 5220
(2018), constitute an “extraordinary and compelling” reason for resentencing. See
18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). The district court 1 denied the motion. Olivares appeals
and we affirm.

       Olivares’s arguments are clearly precluded by this court’s precedent. See
United States v. Crandall, 25 F.4th 582, 586 (8th Cir. 2022) (holding “a non-
retroactive change in law, whether offered alone or in combination with other
factors, cannot contribute to a finding of ‘extraordinary and compelling reasons’ for
a reduction in sentence under § 3582(c)(1)(A)”). See also United States v.
Rodriguez-Mendez, 65 F.4th 1000, 1001 (8th Cir. 2023) (finding Concepcion v.
United States, 142 S. Ct. 2389 (2022), “did not overrule our prior decision in
Crandall”).

       Finally, to the extent Olivares argues his prior convictions should have never
qualified him for sentencing enhancements, even under prior law, he is attacking his
sentence and not providing an “extraordinary and compelling” reason to grant a
motion for resentencing. Olivares cites no authority which would allow this court to
review the eight-year-old sentence.

      As Olivares’s arguments are precluded by this circuit’s precedent, we affirm.
                       _____________________________

      1
        The Honorable Jeffrey Lynn Viken, United States District Judge for the
District of South Dakota.
                                    -2-