United States v. Byron Williams

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FEB 25 2021 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 20-30075 Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 3:05-cr-00076-RRB-1 v. BYRON WILLIAMS, AKA Felipe, MEMORANDUM* Defendant-Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Alaska Ralph R. Beistline, District Judge, Presiding Submitted February 17, 2021** Before: FERNANDEZ, BYBEE, and BADE, Circuit Judges. Byron Williams appeals from the district court’s order denying his motion for a reduction of sentence under the First Step Act. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm. Williams contends that the district court erred by failing to give sufficient * 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). weight to his post-sentencing rehabilitation efforts. Assuming without deciding that Williams was eligible for a sentence reduction under the First Step Act, the district court did not abuse its discretion by concluding that a reduction was unwarranted in light of Williams’s misconduct while in custody and his criminal history. See United States v. Kelley, 962 F.3d 470, 479 (9th Cir. 2020); see also United States v. Gutierrez-Sanchez, 587 F.3d 904, 908 (9th Cir. 2009) (“The weight to be given the various factors in a particular case is for the discretion of the district court.”). Moreover, contrary to Williams’s contention, the record reflects that the court considered Williams’s arguments and provided a sufficient explanation for its decision. See Chavez-Meza v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1959, 1965 (2018). AFFIRMED. 2 20-30075