United States v. Richard Taumoepeau

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS APR 24 2017 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 16-10301 Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 1:97-cr-01199-DAE v. MEMORANDUM* RICHARD BROWN TAUMOEPEAU, a.k.a. Haumeti, a.k.a. Tiki, Defendant-Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii David A. Ezra, District Judge, Presiding Submitted April 11, 2017** Before: GOULD, CLIFTON, and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges. Richard Brown Taumoepeau appeals from the district court’s order granting in part 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. Taumoepeau contends that the district court abused its discretion by denying * 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). him a further sentence reduction under Amendment 782 to the Sentencing Guidelines. As an initial matter, we reject the government’s argument that this appeal is untimely. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(4). Turning to the merits, we conclude that the district court acted within its discretion when, after considering the nature of Taumoepeau’s offense and his post-sentencing rehabilitation, it reduced Taumoepeau’s sentence from 480 to 345 months. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10 cmt. n.1(B); United States v. Lightfoot, 626 F.3d 1092, 1095-96 (9th Cir. 2010). Moreover, contrary to Taumoepeau’s contention, the record reflects that the district court followed the procedure set forth in Dillon v. United States, 560 U.S. 817 (2010). AFFIRMED. 2 16-10301