[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
No. 08-13535 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
APRIL 9, 2009
Non-Argument Calendar
THOMAS K. KAHN
________________________
CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 96-00003-CR-ORL-18-DAB
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
WILLIAM LEE EDWARDS,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
_________________________
(April 9, 2009)
Before DUBINA, BLACK and BARKETT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Appellant William Lee Edwards appeals the district court’s order reducing
his sentence from 300 to 210 months’ imprisonment, under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2),
for a crack cocaine conviction, but denying his request for a sentence below his
amended guideline range. On appeal, Edwards argues the district court erred in its
application of § 3582(c)(2) when it refused to sentence him below the minimum of
the guideline range because, under United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.
Ct. 738, 160 L. Ed. 2d 621 (2005), his range was merely advisory. Additionally,
he argues that his sentence was unreasonable and that the district court erred by not
considering the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors, a consecutive state sentence he served,
his post-sentencing rehabilitation, and the disparity between powder and crack
cocaine sentences.
In the § 3582(c)(2) context, “we review de novo the district court’s legal
conclusions regarding the scope of its authority under the Sentencing Guidelines.”
United States v. White, 305 F.3d 1264, 1267 (11th Cir. 2002). We also review “de
novo questions of statutory interpretation.” United States v. Maupin, 520 F.3d
1304, 1306 (11th Cir. 2008).
A district court may modify a term of imprisonment in the case of a
defendant who was sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing
range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission. 18
U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). This authority is limited to those Guideline amendments
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listed in U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10 that “have the effect of lowering the defendant’s
applicable guideline range.” U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(a)(2)(B). Amendment 713 made
Amendment 706, which is listed in U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(c), retroactive. See
U.S.S.G. App. C, Amend. 713; U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(c). Amendment 706 reduced
offense levels in certain crack cocaine cases by two levels, as reflected in the drug
quantity table in U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1. See U.S.S.G. App. C, Amend. 706. Therefore,
a district court has discretion to reduce the sentence of a defendant whose
sentencing range has been lowered by Amendment 706.
Any sentencing reduction must be “consistent with applicable policy
statements issued by the Sentencing Commission.” 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). The
Commission’s policy statements direct that a defendant is not entitled to a full
resentencing during § 3582(c)(2) proceedings. U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(a)(3).
Section 1B1.10(b)(2) also provides in relevant part:
(2) Limitations and Prohibition on Extent of Reduction.–
(A) In General.–Except as provided in subdivision (B), the court shall
not reduce the defendant’s term of imprisonment under 18 U.S.C.
3582(c)(2) and this policy statement to a term that is less than the
minimum of the amended guideline range determined under
subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(B) Exception.–If the original term of imprisonment imposed was less
than the term of imprisonment provided by the guideline range
applicable to the defendant at the time of sentencing, a reduction
comparably less than the amended guideline range determined under
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subdivision (1) of this subsection may be appropriate. However, if the
original term of imprisonment constituted a non-guideline sentence
determined pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) and United States v.
Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), a further reduction generally would not
be appropriate.
U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(b)(2) (made effective on March 3, 2008, by Amendment 712).
We recently held that a district court does not have the authority pursuant to
Booker or its progeny to reduce in the § 3582(c)(2) context a defendant’s sentence
in a manner inconsistent with the applicable policy statements of the Sentencing
Commission. United States v. Melvin, ___ F.3d ___, ___ (11th Cir. Feb 3, 2009)
(No. 08-13497). In Melvin, we concluded that Booker does not apply to
§ 3582(c)(2) proceedings and, therefore, the district court does not have the
authority to sentence below the amended guideline range in resentencing. Id. at
___.
When considering a § 3582(c)(2) motion, a district court must engage in a
two-part analysis. “First, the court must substitute the amended guideline range for
the originally applied guideline range and determine what sentence it would have
imposed.” United States v. Vautier, 144 F.3d 756, 760 (11th Cir. 1998). Second,
“the court must consider the factors listed in § 3553(a) and determine whether or
not to reduce the defendant’s original sentence.” Id. While a district court must
consider the § 3553(a) factors, it “commits no reversible error by failing to
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articulate specifically the applicability - if any - of each of the section 3553(a)
factors, as long as the record demonstrates that the pertinent factors were taken into
account by the district court.” United States v. Eggersdorf, 126 F.3d 1318, 1322
(11th Cir. 1997).
Although the record does not indicate that the district court considered the
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors in granting the sentence reduction, the district court
sentenced Edwards to the minimum term permitted by the amended guideline
range. In accordance with Melvin, the district court was not permitted to reduce
Edwards’s sentence below the amended guideline range. Accordingly, we decline
to review the reasonableness of Edwards’s new sentence, and we affirm the
210-month sentence.
AFFIRMED.
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