Teng v. United States

Background

In February 2004, Chen Teng pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to commit robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 1951 and one count of brandishing a firearm in connection with a Hobbs Act conspiracy to commit murder, identified as Count Four. The court sentenced him to 192 months in prison and five years of supervised release. He completed the prison sentence and had been on supervised release since June 30, 2017.

Motion and Issues

Teng moved under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, a procedure allowing a federal prisoner to challenge an unlawful conviction or sentence, to vacate the Count Four conviction and terminate his supervised release. The government conceded that Count Four was based on the residual clause of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(B), which no longer defines the charged offense as a crime of violence under the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Davis.

The court also considered whether to end supervised release early. It found that, without Count Four, Teng's sentencing-guideline range would have been below 192 months and that he likely would have completed a three-year supervised-release term earlier. The court also noted that he had been supervised for nearly three years without problems and that early termination was in the interest of justice.

Ruling

Circuit Judge Denny Chin granted Teng's motion in both respects. The court vacated the Count Four conviction and dismissed Count Four. It resentenced Teng to 192 months of imprisonment, concurrent, and three years of supervised release, concurrent, on the remaining counts, and stated that an amended judgment would be entered.

Because Teng had already completed his prison sentence, the court granted his request for early termination and terminated his supervised release effective seven days from the order's date. The court also determined that he was entitled to a $100 refund because he had paid the special assessment on Count Four. His counsel was directed to provide remittance information to the court's finance department.