Free Motion to Reduce Sentence re Crack Cocaine Offense - 18:3582 - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

1 JAMES SUN PARK, #015232 2 111 W. Monroe St., Suite 716 3 Telephone (602) 462-5700 Facsimile (602) 253-7276 4 [email protected] 5 Attorney for Defendant 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c), defendant moves to reduce her sentence vs. Guillermina Valenzuela, Defendant. United States of America, Plaintiff, No. CR 03-0882-001-PHX-SMM MOTION TO REDUCE SENTENCE (First Request) FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
Phoenix, Arizona 85003 Park Law Office, PLC

18 based upon the retroactive amendments to crack cocaine guideline sentence. After 19 entering a guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of crack 20 cocaine, Ms. Valenzuela was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 70 months. 21 22 Ms. Valenzuela's expected release date is October 21, 2008 and defendant would 23 24 25 26 27 28 Under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2),1 the Court has jurisdiction to reduce a
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request the Court to modify the sentence to time served.

The relevant excerpts of 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) states:

in the case of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term of imprison based on a sentencing range that has been subsequently lowered by the Sentencing
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1 imprisonment sentence of the defendant if the sentencing range has been 2 subsequently lowered by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 3 4 994(o). 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2); see United States v. Wise, 515 F.3d 207 (3rd Cir. 5 6 7 this description. Through the Amendments, the Sentencing Commission 8 essentially lowered the offense levels by 2-levels to avoid unwarranted disparity in 9 sentencing for offense involving crack cocaine and other drug offenders. 10 11 Moreover, the retroactive application of the new guidelines are explicitly 12 encouraged by the Sentencing Commission. See U.S.S.G. § 1B.1.10 (2007 ed.). 13 Under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), the Court can recalculate the defendant's sentencing 14 15 range using the newly formulated guidelines. Id. 16 17 18 Ms. Valenzuela was accountable for approximately 90 grams of crack cocaine 19 resulting in a base offense level of 32. See U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c)(4) (2003 ed.). 20 After adjustments for acceptance of responsibility and safety valve, Ms. 21 22 Valenzuela's final offense level was reduced to 27 with Criminal History Category 23 24 25 26 27 28 2
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2008). Amendments 706 and 711 to the Sentencing Guidelines clearly falls within

At the time of Ms. Valenzuela's sentencing, the Court had determined that

Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994(o), upon motion of the defendant or the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, or on its own motion, the court may reduce the term of imprisonment, after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) to the extent that they are applicable, if such a reduction is consistent with the applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission.

1 I with a guideline sentencing range of 70 to 87 months. The Court imposed a low2 end sentence of 70 months.2 If the amended guidelines are used, Ms. Valenzuela's 3 4 base offense level would be 30. See U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c)(5) (2007 ed.) The final 5 6 7 would be 25 with a guideline sentencing range of 57 to 71 months. Ms. 8 Valenzuela has already served 52 months without accounting for any good time 9 credit. With good time credit, Ms. Valenzuela would have already served almost 10 11 61 months, which exceeds the low-end guideline sentence of the amended 12 guidelines. Therefore, the defendant would request the Court to modify Ms. 13 Valenzuela's sentence to time served. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
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new offense level after reductions for safety valve and acceptance of responsibility

Respectfully submitted this 21st day of March, 2008. Park Law Office, PLC s/ James Sun Park JAMES SUN PARK Attorney for Defendant
The foregoing Motion to Reduce Sentence filed via ECF this 21st day of March, 2008. Copy of the foregoing Motion mailed this 21st day of March, 2008 to: Guillermina Valenzuela by J.S. Park James Park

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The Court denied Ms. Valenzuela's motion for downward departure. (Dkt. # 3

186).

Case 2:03-cr-00882-SMM

Document 251

Filed 03/21/2008

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