United States v. Allen

Case: 08-31193 Document: 00511086340 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/20/2010 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED April 20, 2010 No. 08-31193 Conference Calendar Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. ERNEST ALLEN, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana USDC No. 2:91-CR-489-1 Before SMITH, PRADO, and HAYNES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Ernest Allen, federal prisoner # 22651-034, appeals the district court’s grant of his 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) motion to reduce his sentence based on the amendments to the crack cocaine Guideline. Allen argues that the district court’s decision to reduce his sentence by only 12 months was an abuse of discretion. Reductions under § 3582(c)(2) are not mandatory and are reviewed for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Doublin, 572 F.3d 235, 237-38 (5th Cir.), * Pursuant to 5TH CIR . R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR . R. 47.5.4. Case: 08-31193 Document: 00511086340 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/20/2010 No. 08-31193 cert. denied, 130 S. Ct. 517 (2009). In Allen’s case, the district court did not base its decision on an error of law or a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence. See id. at 237; see United States v. Smith, 417 F.3d 483, 486-87 (5th Cir. 2005); 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a); U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10, comment. (n.1(B)(i)-(iii)). Also, the district court’s failure to provide case-specific reasons for its decision does not constitute reversible error. See United States v. Evans, 587 F.3d 667, 672-74 (5th Cir. 2009), petition for cert. filed (Jan. 28, 2010) (No. 09-8939). The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED. 2