United States v. Steele, No. 12-1072 (2d Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was found guilty of drug offenses and subsequently appealed his resentence. After defendant's resentencing, the Sentencing Commission promulgated Amendment 750, which retroactively lowered the base offense levels for crack-cocaine offenses pursuant to the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-120, 124 Stat. 2372. At issue on appeal was whether the sentencing court, exercising its authority under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2), could give defendant the additional benefit of a downward departure previously awarded in the original sentencing. The court held that the provisions of U.S.S.G. 1B1.10 of the Guidelines, as incorporated by section 3582(c)(2), required a resentencing court to apply the amended Guidelines range that would have been applicable to the defendant under the retroactive amendment, without applying any previously-granted departure, except for a departure granted upon an appropriate motion by the government based on the defendant's substantial assistance to authorities. Applying that rule to this case, the court affirmed the district court's judgment, concluding that defendant was not entitled to a downward departure.
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