Case: 19-15115 Date Filed: 07/23/2020 Page: 1 of 3
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 19-15115
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 8:10-cr-00081-JDW-CPT-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
ALPHONSO ARTHUR EDWARDS,
agent of A1,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
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(July 23, 2020)
Case: 19-15115 Date Filed: 07/23/2020 Page: 2 of 3
Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, WILSON and ANDERSON, Circuit
Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Alphonso Edwards appeals the denial of his motion to reduce his sentence
based on the First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. 115-391, 132 Stat. 5194. 18 U.S.C.
§ 3582(c)(1)(B). The district court ruled that Edwards was eligible for a sentence
reduction under the Act but denied his motion to reduce his sentence. Edwards
argues that the district court erred by denying his motion without holding a hearing
where he was present. We affirm.
Edwards’s argument is foreclosed by our recent decision in United States v.
Denson, No. 19-11696 (11th Cir. June 24, 2020), where we held that a defendant
does not have a right to be present when the district court considers a motion to
reduce his sentence under the First Step Act. Id., slip op. at 1, 4–5. We rejected the
same argument that Edwards makes: that the “significant discretion” exercised by
the district court under the Act makes its ruling a “critical stage” that requires a
movant’s presence. See United States v. Brown, 879 F.3d 1231 (11th Cir. 2018).
We held that “a sentencing modification under the First Step Act does not qualify
as a ‘critical stage in the proceedings’” because the district court conducts a limited
review of a sentence instead of a full resentencing. Denson, No. 19-11696, slip op.
at 6–7. No error occurred when the district court denied Edwards’s motion without
holding a hearing where he was present.
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AFFIRMED.
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