30-year sentence reduced under First Step Act to time served

Where the guidelines range for someone convicted today for the cocaine-related crimes involved here would be 262-327 months, and the defendant had already served 289 months of his 360-month sentence, his sentence was reduced to time served under the First Step Act.

Background

Ronald Lee Jones filed a motion to reduce his sentence pursuant to the First Step Act of 2018. He asks that his sentence be reduced from 360 months to time served or, alternatively, to 324 months. The government does not contest that Jones is eligible for consideration of a reduction of his sentence but argues that the court should decline to exercise its discretion to reduce his sentence because Jones did not face a harsher sentence in 1998 than he would face if he were sentenced today, and also because of his criminal history.

Analysis

Jones was convicted of counts involving both cocaine base and powder cocaine. The Fourth Circuit held last year that, when a defendant is charged conjunctively with conspiring to distribute both powder cocaine and crack cocaine, he is convicted of a “covered offense” under section 404(a) of the First Step Act.

Having found that Jones is eligible for relief, the court must now consider what relief, if any, should be granted. After the First Step Act, Jones’ offense level based on his career offender status would be 34, because the indictment did not allege a drug weight for any of his offenses. With a criminal history category of VI, his guidelines range would be 262-327 months, which is the same as his sentence based on drug weight. Thus, the court concludes that Jones’ guideline range is 262-327 months.

The court finds that the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors, when considered along with the fact that if Jones were sentenced today his guidelines range would be 262-327 months, support the conclusion that Jones’s sentence should be reduced to time served. Jones already has served 289 months, which is 27 months longer than the bottom of his current guidelines sentence. The court believes that a sentence of time served is consistent with the policy and concerns addressed by the First Step Act and is sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to meet the sentencing goals of punishment, deterrence, protection of the public and rehabilitation undergirding 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).

Defendant’s First Step Act motion granted.

United States v. Jones, Case No. 7:97-cr-00051, Nov. 8, 2021. WDVA at Roanoke (Urbanski). VLW 021-3-512. 15 pp.