United States v. Glen Boliver

Case: 09-40962 Document: 00511151741 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/23/2010 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED June 23, 2010 No. 09-40962 Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus GLEN BOLIVER, Defendant-Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas No. 4:03-CR-15-1 Before DAVIS, SMITH, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Glenn Boliver, federal prisoner # 10328-078, appeals the denial of his mo- tion for relief from sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). He sought to re- * Pursuant to 5TH CIR . R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR . R. 47.5.4. Case: 09-40962 Document: 00511151741 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/23/2010 No. 09-40962 duce the sentence he received for his methamphetamine conspiracy conviction. Boliver contends that Amendment 709 to the Sentencing Guidelines ap- plies retroactively to his criminal history calculation. He also contends that he is entitled to relief because he was sentenced on incorrect factual information af- fecting his criminal history calculation. The government argues that the amend- ment does not apply retroactively and that Boliver otherwise cannot challenge his sentencing calculations in a postconviction motion to modify his sentence. Boliver replies that this court has inherent power to grant him relief. Pursuant to § 3582(c)(2), a district court may reduce a sentence that was based on a sentencing range that subsequently was lowered by the Sentencing Commission. § 3582(c)(2); United States v. Gonzalez-Balderas, 105 F.3d 981, 982 (5th Cir.1997). The court may grant a reduction if the reduction is consistent with the applicable policy statements issued by the Commission. § 3582(c)(2); Gonzalez-Balderas, 105 F.3d at 982. Section 3582(c)(2) applies only to retro- active guidelines amendments as set forth in the guidelines policy statement. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(a); United States v. Shaw, 30 F.3d 26, 28-29 (5th Cir. 1994). The decision whether to reduce a sentence under § 3582(c)(2) is discre- tionary, so the denial of a § 3582(c) motion is reviewed for abuse of that discre- tion. See United States v. Boe, 117 F.3d 830, 831 (5th Cir. 1997). The Sentencing Commission has stated in § 1B1.10 that unless an amend- ment is listed in § 1B1.10(c), a reduction based on the amendment under § 3582(c) is not consistent with the policy statement of § 1B1.10. See § 1B1.10, comment. (n.1(A)). Amendment 709 is not listed as an amendment covered by the policy statement in § 1B1.10(c). See § 1B1.10(c). Therefore, under the plain language of § 3582(c), a court is not authorized to reduce a sentence based on Amendment 709, because that would be inconsistent with Commission policy. See § 1B1.10, comment. (n.1(A)); Shaw, 30 F.3d at 28-29. Moreover, “[a] 3582(c)(2) motion is not the appropriate vehicle for raising issues related to the original sentencing.” United States v. Evans, 587 F.3d 667, 2 Case: 09-40962 Document: 00511151741 Page: 3 Date Filed: 06/23/2010 No. 09-40962 674 (5th Cir. 2009) (internal punctuation marks and citation omitted), petition for cert. filed (Jan. 28, 2010) (No. 09-8939). Boliver’s contentions that his crimin- al history was incorrectly calculated are “arguments for direct appeal and are not cognizable under § 3582(c)(2).” Id. AFFIRMED. 3