NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS DEC 20 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 17-30003
Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 2:04-cr-00278-RAJ
v.
MEMORANDUM*
JAMES TEMPLETON,
Defendant-Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Washington
Richard A. Jones, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted December 18, 2017**
Before: WALLACE, SILVERMAN, and BYBEE, Circuit Judges.
James Templeton appeals from the district court’s order denying his motion
for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). We have jurisdiction under
28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.
Templeton contends that he is eligible for a sentence reduction under
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
Amendment 782 to the Sentencing Guidelines. We review de novo whether a
district court had authority to modify a sentence under section 3582(c)(2). See
United States v. Leniear, 574 F.3d 668, 672 (9th Cir. 2009). Contrary to
Templeton’s contention, section 3582(c)(2) did not authorize the district court to
apply a two-level reduction for safety valve because such a reduction was not
applied at Templeton’s original sentencing. See U.S.S.G. § 1B.10(b)(1) (when
determining a defendant’s amended guideline range, the court “shall substitute
only the [amended provisions] for the corresponding guideline provisions that were
applied when the defendant was sentenced and shall leave all other guideline
application decisions unaffected”); Dillon v. United States, 560 U.S. 817, 827
(2010). This is true even if the district court erred by failing to apply a safety valve
reduction at the original sentencing. See Dillon, 560 U.S. at 831. Because
Templeton’s 240-month sentence is below his amended guideline range of 262 to
327 months, he is ineligible for a reduction. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(b)(2)(A) (the
district court may not reduce a defendant’s sentence “to a term that is less than the
minimum of the amended guideline range”).
AFFIRMED.
2 17-30003