Opinions of the United
2006 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
6-2-2006
USA v. Enigwe
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 05-3786
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Recommended Citation
"USA v. Enigwe" (2006). 2006 Decisions. Paper 966.
http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2006/966
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DPS-215 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
NO. 05-3786
________________
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v.
IFEDOO NOBLE ENIGWE,
Appellant.
____________________________________
On Appeal From the United States District Court
For the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Crim. No. 92-cr-00257)
District Judge: Honorable Jan E. DuBois
__________________________
Submitted on a Motion for Summary Reversal/Remand
Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
May 4, 2006
BEFORE: FUENTES, VAN ANTWERPEN and ROTH1 CIRCUIT JUDGES
(Filed: June 2, 2006)
_________________
OPINION
_________________
PER CURIAM
In 1992, appellant Ifedoo Enigwe was convicted of importing heroin in violation
of 21 U.S.C. § 960(a) and related crimes. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of
1
Judge Roth assumed senior status on May 31, 2006.
235 months and five years of supervised release. This sentence included a 2-level
enhancement for obstruction of justice and a 4-level enhancement for his leadership role
in the offense. We affirmed the judgment of conviction and sentence in 1994. The
United States Supreme Court denied certiorari that same year. Since then, Enigwe has
made numerous unsuccessful challenges to his conviction and sentence.2
At issue in the present appeal is Enigwe’s May 2005 motion to modify sentence
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). He contended in this motion that Amendment 500 to
United States Sentencing Guidelines § 3B1.1, effective in November 2003, lowered the
sentencing range for his leadership role. The District Court denied the motion in an order
entered on July 28, 2005, holding that Enigwe’s sentence had not been lowered by
Amendment 500.
In a thorough opinion, the District Court reasoned that Amendment 500 made clear
that the leadership enhancement applied only to management responsibility over at least
one or more other participants.3 However, both prior and subsequent to the issuance of
Amendment 500, a court’s finding that a defendant had management responsibility over
people, such as expressly found in Enigwe’s case, resulted in an enhancement. Section
3B1.1, under which Enigwe was sentenced and as applied to him, thus was unaffected by
2
Inasmuch as we write primarily for the parties and they are familiar with the
procedural history, we set forth only that which will be helpful to our brief discussion.
3
Amendment 500 also provided that an upward departure may be warranted in the
case of a defendant who did not supervise another participant, but who nevertheless had
management responsibility over the property of a criminal organization. U.S.S.G. §
3B1.1 cmt. n.2 (1994).
2
Amendment 500.
Enigwe appealed and filed a motion for summary action in the form of reversal or
remand. We have carefully reviewed Enigwe’s arguments. We agree that summary
action is appropriate but only in the form of an affirmance.
We will summarily affirm the order of the District Court under Third Circuit LAR
27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6, because it clearly appears that no substantial question is presented
by this appeal. The motion to modify sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) lacks merit
for the reasons given by the District Court. At Enigwe’s sentencing, the District Court
expressly found that he was an organizer or leader of a criminal activity that involved the
required number of participants for a 4-level enhancement under U.S,S.G. § 3B1.1(a).
We agreed on appeal that this management responsibility over the required number of
participants was clearly established. Section 3B1.1 as applied to Enigwe was unaffected
by Amendment 500, and thus the amendment does not lower his sentence.
The District Court did not reach the question whether Amendment 500 is
retroactive and neither do we. The District Court also declined to consider Enigwe’s
contention concerning the Bureau of Prisons’ monthly assessment of his fine on the
ground that he had failed to exhaust administrative remedies. We also decline to consider
it for this same reason.
We will summarily affirm the order of the District Court denying the motion to
modify sentence.
3