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DISTRICT COURT CUTS LIFE SENTENCE FOR CRACK CCE

It has been a difficult ten months for some people seeking reduced sentences under the Fair Sentencing Act. DOJ says that 1,987 people have gotten sentence cuts, but as I noted last week, the government has dug in its heels on many more movants, arguing in many FSA cases that crack prisoners should be dinged with every gram of drug and Guideline enhancement imagined by the presentence report.

That’s why a recent district court FSA decision from the Northern District of New York to reduce a defendant’s life sentence to time served is so heartening.

In 1997, Tommy Walker was convicted of a continuing criminal enterprise and drug conspiracy, and sentenced to life based on a mandatory minimum sentence imposed because the CCE involved more than 300 times the “5 grams or more” quantity of cocaine base penalized in 21 USC 841(b)(1)(B). However, as the court out it, “if the Fair Sentencing Act had been in effect at the time, the quantity of cocaine base penalized in 21 USC 841(b)(1)(B) would have been 28 grams or more,” meaning that to get a life sentence, Tommy would have had to be involved with 8.4 kilograms, far more than the 1.5 kg found in the presentence report.

That did not matter, the government said, because the Sentencing Guidelines enhancements that would have been applied under current law if the mandatory minimum life sentence did not apply put Tommy in the 360-life guidelines sentencing range, so the life sentence should stand.

The court rejected the government analysis, noting that one of the enhancements – maintaining a premises for drug distribution – did not exist when Tommy was sentenced, and anyway, the fact about maintaining a premises “was not an element of the charged crimes and did not affect Defendant’s original sentence, and therefore, he would have had little reason to contest it.”

It helped that Tommy had served more than the minimum sentence under his 292-360 month range, was 62 years old, and had “completed his GED, taken extensive educational courses, and excelled at jobs including electrician, law library clerk, and hospital companion, earning strong endorsements from various prison officials. He has also served as a mentor to other prisoners, who have submitted testimonials on his behalf. In short, Defendant has used his time in custody to better himself and help others.”

The district court held that in Tommy’s case, “a reduced sentence is consistent with the purposes of the First Step Act and Congress’s intent to remedy the disproportionate impact of the statutory penalties applied to crack cocaine offenses prior to 2010, and to eliminate the disparity between Defendant and those sentenced thereafter.” The district court sentenced him to 340 months, which was time served, a sentence that reflected “the severity of the crimes committed by Defendant, while recognizing his efforts at rehabilitation.”

Don’t underestimate the power of a good disciplinary record and programming.

Memorandum Opinion and Order, United States v. Walker, Case No. 95-CR-101(NDNY, Oct. 25, 2019)

– Thomas L. Root