UNITED STATES v. SMITH (2021)

In 2002, a jury convicted Jamie Smith of conspiring to possess, with intent to distribute, five kilograms or more of powder cocaine, 50 grams or more of crack cocaine, and marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. He was sentenced to, inter alia, a within-Sentencing Guidelines term of 360-months’ imprisonment.

Smith moved in 2018 to reduce his sentence pursuant to the First Step Act, Pub. L. No. 115-391, § 404, 132 Stat. 5194, 5222 (2018). The district court granted Smith's request, concluding Smith was eligible for relief under the First Step Act and ordering his sentence be reduced to 300-months’ imprisonment.

The Government contends Smith's conviction was not a “covered offense” under the First Step Act because it included both crack cocaine and powder cocaine, and the drug-quantity thresholds for powder cocaine were not modified by the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act. We generally review for abuse of discretion the decision to reduce a sentence pursuant to the First Step Act; questions of law, such as the court's determination turning on the meaning of a federal statute, are reviewed de novo. United States v. Jackson, 945 F.3d 315, 319 (5th Cir. 2019), cert. denied, ––– U.S. ––––, 140 S. Ct. 2699, 206 L.Ed.2d 839 (2020).

Our court recently held dual-object conspiracies, i.e. drug conspiracies involving both powder and crack cocaine, qualify as covered offenses under the First Step Act because the “statutory penalties for the crack-cocaine object were modified by Section 2 of the Fair Sentencing Act”. United States v. Winters, 986 F.3d 942, 950 (5th Cir. 2021); see Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, Pub. L. 111-220, § 2(a), 124 Stat. 2372, 2372 (2010). Smith's conspiracy offense was committed before August 3, 2010, and is, therefore, a covered offense under the First Step Act.

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

FOOTNOTE.  

Per Curiam:* FN* Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.