Case: 20-50681 Document: 00515950851 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/23/2021
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
July 23, 2021
No. 20-50681 Lyle W. Cayce
Summary Calendar Clerk
United States of America,
Plaintiff—Appellee,
versus
Tommy Delando Burns,
Defendant—Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
USDC No. 7:06-CR-89-1
Before Davis, Stewart, and Dennis, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Tommy Delando Burns, federal prisoner # 35499-177, was convicted
of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine
and two counts of aiding and abetting the distribution of crack cocaine.
Following a remand, he was resentenced to concurrent terms of 324 months
*
Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 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opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited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 Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 20-50681 Document: 00515950851 Page: 2 Date Filed: 07/23/2021
No. 20-50681
in prison and five years of supervised release, but his sentences were
subsequently reduced, and he is now serving concurrent terms of 262 months
in prison. He moved in the district court for resentencing under the First
Step Act of 2018, § 404, Pub. L. No. 115-391, 132 Stat. 5194, 5222 (2018), and
he asked for a reduction of both his sentences and his terms of supervised
release. Without a hearing, the district court denied the motion in an order
without giving any reasons.
Though district courts need not always explain why they have denied
a motion, meaningful review is possible here only with a statement of reasons
for the denial. See Peteet v. Dow Chem. Co., 868 F.2d 1428, 1436 (5th Cir.
1989). Absent such a statement, we can only guess why the motion was
denied. We thus REMAND for the limited purpose of allowing the district
court to explain why it denied the motion, and we retain jurisdiction, as is
customary for limited remands. See, e.g., United States v. Gomez, 905 F.3d
347, 354-56 (5th Cir. 2018).
2