PUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
No. 09-7316
ORRANDY GOODWYN, a/k/a Randy,
a/k/a White Boy, a/k/a Trash,
Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond.
James R. Spencer, Chief District Judge.
(3:96-cr-00041-JRS-8)
Argued: January 26, 2010
Decided: February 26, 2010
Before MOTZ, KING, and AGEE, Circuit Judges.
Vacated and remanded by published opinion. Judge Motz
wrote the opinion, in which Judge King and Judge Agee
joined.
COUNSEL
ARGUED: Richard Daniel Cooke, OFFICE OF THE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Richmond, Virginia, for
Appellant. James Brian Donnelly, PRICE, PERKINS,
2 UNITED STATES v. GOODWYN
LARKEN & DONNELLY, Virginia Beach, Virginia, for
Appellee. ON BRIEF: Neil H. MacBride, United States
Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant.
OPINION
DIANA GRIBBON MOTZ, Circuit Judge:
In 1997, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute
powder and crack cocaine, Orrandy Goodwyn received a 264-
month prison sentence. Eleven years later, relying on 18
U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) (2006) and the retroactive crack cocaine
amendment to the United States Sentencing Guidelines
("U.S.S.G." or "Guidelines"), Goodwyn moved for a reduc-
tion of his sentence to time served. The district court granted
the motion in part, reducing Goodwyn’s term of imprison-
ment by two years, to 240 months. More than seven months
later, Goodwyn asked the court to reduce his sentence further.
The court treated the request as a motion for reconsideration,
which it granted, again reducing Goodwyn’s sentence by two
years, to 216 months. For the reasons that follow, we hold that
the district court lacked the authority to grant the motion for
reconsideration.
I.
Goodwyn pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute powder
and crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846(a)(1)
(2006). On March 18, 1997, the district court sentenced him
to 264 months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised
release.
On March 24, 2008, Goodwyn filed a pro se motion for
reduction of sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and
the crack cocaine amendment to the Guidelines. U.S.S.G. app.
C, amends. 706, 711. Section 3582(c)(2) permits sentence
UNITED STATES v. GOODWYN 3
modification "in the case of a defendant who has been sen-
tenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range
that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Com-
mission." Id. § 3582(c)(2). Goodwyn’s conspiracy conviction
involved an otherwise unspecified drug quantity in excess of
1.5 kilograms of cocaine base, which, at the time, triggered a
base offense level of 38. The Sentencing Commission subse-
quently lowered the sentencing range applicable to his offense
conduct and applied the amendment retroactively. U.S.S.G.
app. C, amends. 706, 711. Therefore, the district court had the
discretion, but not the obligation, to reduce Goodwyn’s sen-
tence on this ground. Id. § 1B1.10.
In his motion, which the Government opposed, Goodwyn
highlighted his troubled childhood, efforts to obtain an educa-
tion, position in a prison landscaping job, and lack of disci-
plinary infractions while incarcerated. On October 14, 2008,
the district court granted the motion in part, reducing Good-
wyn’s sentence to 240 months’ imprisonment.
Almost eight months later, on June 1, 2009, Goodwyn
(again pro se) wrote the court asking it to reduce further his
term of imprisonment. In an effort to persuade the court that
he posed no danger to the public, Goodwyn wrote that he had
been "classified Out Custody which means [he is] in the pres-
ence of citizens each and every day." He asked to be released
so that he could take care of his family.
Construing the June letter as a motion for reconsideration,
the district court granted the motion and further reduced
Goodwyn’s sentence to 216 months’ imprisonment. In doing
so, the court explained that it had "reviewed additional infor-
mation regarding Goodwyn’s post-conviction rehabilitation
efforts, and [that] this information decrease[d] any concerns
[the court] may have had about his continuing danger to the
public."
The Government timely noted this appeal.
4 UNITED STATES v. GOODWYN
II.
The law closely guards the finality of criminal sentences
against judicial "change of heart." United States v. Layman,
116 F.3d 105, 109 (4th Cir. 1997); see also, e.g., Johnson v.
United States, 544 U.S. 295, 309 (2005) ("[T]he United States
has an interest in the finality of sentences imposed by its own
courts."); United States v. Fields, 552 F.3d 401, 405 (4th Cir.
2009) ("Congress limited the reach of [Federal Rule of Crimi-
nal Procedure 35, which governs sentence modification,]
because it wanted to promote openness and finality in sen-
tencing."); United States v. Caraballo, 552 F.3d 6, 9 (1st Cir.
2008) ("Finality is an important attribute of judgments and,
typically, once a pronounced sentence in a criminal case
becomes final and unappealable, it may not be modified.");
United States v. Abreu-Cabrera, 64 F.3d 67, 73 (2nd Cir.
1995) ("As a result of Congress’ desire to provide finality to
sentencing, . . . [the district court may not act upon] second
thoughts [regarding the severity of a defendant’s sentence], no
matter how well intentioned.").
Section 3582, which governs the imposition of federal
prison sentences, embraces this principle, providing that a
court’s imposition of a term of imprisonment "constitutes a
final judgment." 18 U.S.C. § 3582(b). This statute states that
a district court "may not modify a term of imprisonment once
it has been imposed" unless the Bureau of Prisons moves for
a reduction, the Sentencing Commission amends the applica-
ble Guidelines range, or another statute or Rule 35 expressly
permits the court to do so. Id. § 3582(c); see also United
States v. Cunningham, 554 F.3d 703, 708 (7th Cir. 2009)
("[T]here is no ‘inherent authority’ for a district court to mod-
ify a sentence as it pleases; indeed a district court’s discretion
to modify a sentence is an exception to [§ 3582’s] general rule
[barring modification].").
In accord with this framework, the district court clearly
acted within its authority in granting Goodwyn’s first motion
UNITED STATES v. GOODWYN 5
to modify his sentence. As explained above, 18 U.S.C.
§ 3582(c)(2) and U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10 expressly sanctioned this
relief. We must determine whether these (or any other) provi-
sions also permitted the district court to reduce Goodwyn’s
sentence a second time, almost eight months after the first
reduction. We conclude that they did not.
We note at the outset that the Director of the Bureau of
Prisons did not move to reduce Goodwyn’s sentence. Nor
does Goodwyn claim that Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure provides any basis for the grant of his
motion for reconsideration. Rule 35 authorizes only the cor-
rection, "[w]ithin 14 days after sentencing," of "arithmetical,
technical, or other clear error," unless the defendant merits a
reduction for substantial assistance. Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(a),
(b).* Thus, that Rule provides Goodwyn no support.
Moreover, Goodwyn cannot point to any federal statute that
expressly authorized his motion for reconsideration; no such
provision exists. See United States v. Dotz, 455 F.3d 644, 648
(6th Cir. 2006) ("In the sentencing context, there is simply no
such thing as a ‘motion to reconsider’ an otherwise final sen-
tence . . . ."); United States v. Aguirre, 214 F.3d 1122, 1124
(9th Cir. 2000) ("While district courts generally have ‘inher-
ent authority’ to decide motions for reconsideration and
rehearing of orders in criminal proceedings, [§ 3582]
expressly limits the court’s authority in sentencing.").
To overcome this deficiency, Goodwyn urges us to read
silence as permission. Specifically, he argues that the limited
*Of course, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not apply to
motions under § 3582. This is so because § 3582 motions—which seek
only to alter terms of imprisonment—are criminal in nature. See, e.g.,
United States v. Byfield, 522 F.3d 400, 402 (D.C. Cir. 2008) (per curiam);
United States v. Fair, 326 F.3d 1317, 1318 (11th Cir. 2003) (per curiam);
United States v. Arrango, 291 F.3d 170, 171-72 (2nd Cir. 2002) (per
curiam); United States v. Alvarez, 210 F.3d 309, 310 (5th Cir. 2000) (per
curiam).
6 UNITED STATES v. GOODWYN
allowance for sentence modification in § 3582(c)(2) implies
authority for the grant of his motion for reconsideration. Sec-
tion 3582(c)(2) does not expressly provide that a court may
grant only one sentence modification, but neither does it in
any way suggest that a court may grant more than one modifi-
cation. As the clear intent of § 3582 is to constrain post-
judgment sentence modifications, we hold that this silence
precludes the interpretation of § 3582(c)(2) charged by Good-
wyn, an interpretation that would permit unlimited motions
for reconsideration over an unspecified period of time. To
hold otherwise would subvert the statute’s overriding purpose.
When the Sentencing Commission reduces the Guidelines
range applicable to a prisoner’s sentence, the prisoner has an
opportunity pursuant to § 3582(c)(2) to persuade the district
court to modify his sentence. If the result does not satisfy him,
he may timely appeal it. But he may not, almost eight months
later, ask the district court to reconsider its decision.
III.
For the foregoing reasons, we vacate the June 23, 2009
order granting Goodwyn’s motion for reconsideration and
reducing his sentence to 216 months’ imprisonment. We
remand the case for reinstatement of the 240-month sentence
imposed in the October 14, 2008 order.
VACATED AND REMANDED