United States v. Garcia

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT F v L FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA E D JUL 3 () 2009 NANcv MA¥ER v\/Hrrrzwo'row, crem< UNITED STATES oF AMERICA U_S_ D,S,-H,CT COURT v. Criminal Case No. 04-094 (RBW) SABINO GARCIA, Defendant. S£§/£&&£££ MEMoRANDUM oPlNloN‘ This matter last came before the Court on the motion of the defendant, Sabino Garcia, seeking reduction of his 175 month sentence to a sentence of less than l50 months pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(0)(2) (2006). Motion to Reduce Sentence ("Mot.") at l. The government does not oppose reducing the defendant’s sentence to 150 months, but does oppose any greater reduction of the sentence. Government’s Response to Defendant’s Motion to Reduce Sentence ("Opp’n") at l. For the reasons set forth below, the Court declined to reduce the defendant’s sentence below 150 months as indicated in ns Aprii 23, 2009 ord@r? 1 The l\/[emorandum Opinion corresponds with and supplements the Court’s Order of April 23, 2009. 2 The Court considered the following papers in resolving the defendant’s motion: the defendant’s Motion to Reduce Sentence; the Govemment's Response to Defendant's Motion to Reduce Sentence; and the defendant’s Reply to Govemment's Response to Defendant's Motion to Reduce Sentence. I. Background On December 15, 2004, a jury convicted the defendant of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base, also known as crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(l), 841(b)(l)(B)(iii) (2006). Mot. at 1; Opp’n at 2. Following the defendant’s conviction, but before he was sentcnced, the Supreme Court announced its decision in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), which held that the sentencing ranges designated by the United States Sentencing Guidelines ("Guidelines") were now advisory and no longer binding on sentencing courts. L