Deaza-Alcala v. United States

Background

In January 2017, the court sentenced Ramirez Deaza-Alcala to 132 months in prison after his conviction for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine. The court calculated his advisory sentencing-guidelines range using the November 2016 version of the guidelines. His sentence was 36 months below that advisory range.

On November 4, 2019, Ramirez Deaza-Alcala moved under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) for a sentence reduction. That law can permit a court to reduce a prison term when the Sentencing Commission later lowers the sentencing range used to impose it, if the reduction is consistent with the Commission's policy statements. He argued that Amendment 782 supported a reduction. He also cited his acceptance of responsibility, positive use of his time in prison, and family support.

Court's Analysis

The court held that Amendment 782 did not provide a basis for relief. The amendment took effect on November 1, 2014—more than two years before Ramirez Deaza-Alcala was sentenced—and its changes were already incorporated into the November 2016 guidelines used to calculate his advisory range. Because the amendment preceded his sentencing, it did not have a retroactive effect on his sentence.

The court also found that the other facts Ramirez Deaza-Alcala presented were insufficient to support modifying his sentence, particularly because the sentence already represented a 36-month downward variance from the advisory guidelines range.

Ruling

Judge Gregory H. Woods denied Ramirez Deaza-Alcala's request for a sentence reduction. The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and therefore denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The clerk was directed to terminate the motion and mail a copy of the order to Ramirez Deaza-Alcala.