U.S. v. Phelps

Dist. Ct. erred in finding that defendant was not eligible for reduction of his 60-month, below guideline sentence on drug conspiracy charge under circumstances where: (1) defendant was originally sentenced to 120-month term of incarceration, which was below applicable guideline range of 188-235 months; (2) defendant’s sentence was subsequently reduced to 60 months pursuant to govt. motion alleging that defendant provided substantial assistance to govt.; and (3) sentencing guidelines retroactively reduced defendant’s original guideline range to 151-188 months. Policy statement contained in section 1B1.10(b)(2)(B) advised that reduction “comparatively less than amended guidelines range” is possible for defendants who originally received below-guidelines sentence, and defendant could potentially receive 48-month sentence, where Dist. Ct. should have calculated ratio of current 60-month sentence to his original guideline range of 188-235 months (which turns out to 31.9 % of 188 months), and then multiply said fraction by bottom of amended guideline range (151 months), which is approximately 48 months. Remand, though, was required for determination as to whether defendant deserved any reduction.