Background
Jaime Segundo Rosales appealed the district court’s order denying his motion for a sentence reduction pursuant to Section Thirty-Five Eighty-Two, Subsection C, Paragraph Two of Title One Eight of the United States Code. Rosales sought relief based on Amendment Eight Hundred Twenty-One, Part B to the Sentencing Guidelines. The district court denied the motion, finding that Rosales possessed a firearm in connection with the underlying offense.
The court’s reasoning
The court reviewed the district court’s decision for abuse of discretion regarding the sentence reduction and de novo regarding the scope of legal authority. The appellate court found no error in the record. It concluded that the district court properly determined that Rosales’s sentence could not be reduced under Amendment Eight Hundred Twenty-One, Part B because he possessed a firearm in connection with the underlying offense. The court cited U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual Section Four C One Point One, Subsection A, Paragraph Seven.
What it means going forward
Defendants seeking sentence reductions under Amendment Eight Hundred Twenty-One who possessed a firearm during their offense will be ineligible for relief, as confirmed by this Fourth Circuit ruling.