UNITED STATES v. JACKSON (2020)

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

Mr. Carlos Jackson appeals the denial of his motion to reduce his sentence under the First Step Act of 2018. We affirm.

Mr. Jackson pleaded guilty to two counts: (1) conspiracy to manufacture, to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute 280 grams or more of a mixture containing cocaine base, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846, and (2) unlawful use of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). The two counts triggered mandatory minimum sentences of ten years and five years, and the court imposed the mandatory minimum sentences for both counts.

Mr. Jackson moved for a sentence reduction under the First Step Act. This Act permits the sentencing court to reduce a sentence “as if sections 2 and 3 of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 ․ were in effect at the time the covered offense was committed.” First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-391, § 404, 132 Stat. 5194, 5222 (2018). But Mr. Jackson was sentenced in 2013. At that time, sections 2 and 3 of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 were already in effect. So Mr. Jackson has already received the benefit of sections 2 and 3.

He was given ten years and five years in prison because the district court had no authority to impose a shorter prison term; these were the mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment. As we said in Mr. Jackson's prior appeal, “federal courts are powerless to decrease [a] sentence below the statutory mandatory minimum.” United States v. Jackson, 787 Fed. Appx. 543, 545 n.2 (10th Cir. 2019); see U.S.S.G. § 5G1.1(c)(2). Given our inability to decrease the sentence below the statutory mandatory minimum, we affirm the denial of Mr. Jackson's motion to reduce the sentence.

Robert E. Bacharach, Circuit Judge