UNITED STATES v. CANADY (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. Melvin CANADY, Defendant - Appellant.

No. 19-14654

Decided: August 04, 2021

Before JORDAN, NEWSOM, and TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges. Holly Lynn Gershow, U.S. Attorney Service - Middle District of Florida, U.S. Attorney's Office, Tampa, FL, for Plaintiff - Appellee. Adam Paul Labonte, Juliann Welch, Federal Public Defender, Federal Public Defender's Office, Tampa, FL, Rosemary Cakmis, Law Office of Rosemary Cakmis, Orlando, FL, for Defendant - Appellant.

Melvin Canady appeals the district court's denial of his motion for a reduced sentence under Section 404 of the First Step Act of 2018, 132 Stat. 5194. Canady was previously sentenced to 216 months’ imprisonment, with a six-year term of supervised release, for distributing a detectable amount of cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C). He contends that he is eligible for a reduced sentence because his § 841(b)(1)(C) offense was a “covered offense” within the meaning of the First Step Act.

On March 2, 2021, we stayed this appeal pending the Supreme Court's decision regarding the same issue in Terry v. United States,. The Court has now decided Terry, and Terry forecloses Canady's appeal. ––– U.S. ––––, 141 S. Ct. 1858, 1862–63, 210 L.Ed.2d 108. The Court held that a crack offender is eligible for a sentence reduction under the First Step Act only if he was convicted of a crack offense that triggered a mandatory minimum sentence. Id. Because § 841(b)(1)(C) sets no mandatory minimum, offenders convicted of violating that subsection are not eligible for First Step Act relief. Id. We AFFIRM.

PER CURIAM: