Laws, Life, and Legal Matters - Court Cases and Legal Information at Leagle.com - All Federal and State Appeals Court Cases in One Search

Laws, Life, and Legal Matters - Court Cases and Legal Information at Leagle.com - All Federal and State Appeals Court Cases in One Search: "William Edwards is serving a sentence of life imprisonment for his role in the Gangster Disciples, a drug-distribution organization. We affirmed his conviction and sentence in 2001. See 246 F.3d 1054 (7th Cir. 2001).
In 2008 Edwards asked the judge to reduce his sentence in light of the Sentencing Commission's decision to lower, with retroactive effect, the Guideline ranges for crack-cocaine offenses. See 18 U.S.C. §3582(c)(2). The district court concluded, however, that Edwards is ineligible. The statute authorizes a judge to reduce the sentence only if the retroactive change in the Guidelines reduced the Commission's recommended range. See generally United States v. Cunningham, 554 F.3d 703 (7th Cir. 2009); United States v. Hall, 582 F.3d 816 (7th Cir. 2009). The district court found when sentencing Edwards that his base offense is level 38, because his relevant conduct exceeded 150 kilograms of powder cocaine and 1.5 kilograms of crack. After the amendments to the Guidelines, it takes 4.5 kilograms of crack to support level 38; 1.5 kilograms leads to level 36. But the district judge concluded that, even under the revised Guidelines, Edwards's relevant conduct still produces a level 38 sentence. First, the judge observed that 150 kilograms of powder cocaine by itself leads to a level 38 classification. The amendments did not change the treatment of powder cocaine. Second, the judge stated that Edwards is responsible for much more than 4.5 kilograms of crack cocaine."