9th Cir.;
15-10545

The court of appeals affirmed a district court order denying a motion for resentencing. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in redetermining, without hearing, the quantity of methamphetamine that defendant manufactured and distributed during the course of a conspiracy.

Raul Mercado-Moreno led and managed a large-scale methamphetamine manufacturing and distribution enterprise. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to manufacture and distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. At sentencing, the court found that Mercado-Moreno distributed 4.2 kilograms of actual methamphetamine during the course of the conspiracy. Because the threshold to trigger the maximum base offense level under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines at the time of sentencing was 1.5 kilograms or more, the sentencing court applied the maximum base offense level without finding the precise quantity of actual methamphetamine that Mercado-Moreno had manufactured during the course of the conspiracy. Mercado-Moreno received 210 months of imprisonment. Guidelines Amendment 782 subsequently raised the threshold to trigger the maximum base offense level from 1.5 kilograms to 4.5 kilograms. Mercado-Moreno moved for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. §3582(c)(2) before a new district judge since the original sentencing judge had retired. In determining Mercado-Moreno's eligibility for a sentence reduction under §3582(c)(2), the second judge found that Mercado-Moreno was responsible for at least 4.5 kilograms of actual methamphetamine during the course of the conspiracy and, thus, Amendment 782 did not lower his applicable guideline range. Mercado-Moreno's §3582(c)(2) motion was denied.