09-2265 U.S. v. Franklin

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Sentencing
Crack cocaine

Where a sentence for distributing crack cocaine was imposed pursuant to Rule 11(c)(1)(C), the defendant cannot obtain relief under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c).
“We make clear, however, that our decisions today and in Ray do not mean that all Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreements foreclose relief under section 3582(c)(2). If, for example, Franklin’s plea agreement had provided that the term of imprisonment was to be ‘40% below the low end of the guidelines range,’ or had agreed that ‘the defendant will receive the low end of the applicable guideline range,’ then the government agrees that the plea would be ‘based on’ a guidelines range for section 3582(c)(2) purposes. The district court noted as much, stating in the hearing on the section 3582(c)(2) motion in this case that ‘if there is an agreed sentence based on a guideline calculation, like 20 percent of the low end of the guidelines, then with the new crack amendments we go down and we recalculate it. We’ve been doing those by agreement pretty routinely.’ We also acknowledged in Ray that a situation like the one in United States v. Cobb, 584 F.3d 979 (10th Cir. 2009), where the defendant agreed to a 168-month term which the agreement stated was ‘the bottom of the applicable guideline range,’ might yield a different outcome. See Ray, 2010 WL 935752, at *4. These other scenarios do not exist in our case, however, and we affirm the decision of the district court.”
Affirmed.

09-2265 U.S. v. Franklin

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Gettleman, J., Williams, J.