United States v. Sumner
United States v. Sumner
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Presently before the Court is Defendant Dwayne Keith Sumner’s [42] Letter which the Court previously indicated it shall construe as a motion seeking a reduction of sentence and granted leave to file on the docket. See Order (Mar. 1, 2016), ECF No. [43]. Mr. Sumner, who is proceeding pro se, argues that his sentence is unjust and unreasonable under the circumstances and requests that the Court reduce his sentence. The Government opposes Mr. Sumner’s request. Upon a searching review of the parties’ submissions,
I. BACKGROUND
On October 25, 2000 at approximately 9:15 a.m., Mr. Sumner entered the outer foyer of the SunTrust Bank located at 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, and wrote a demand letter.
On November 15, 2000, Mr. Sumner was indicted on one count of attempted bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). On May 3, 2001, Mr. Sumner entered into a written plea agreement with the government whereby he agreed to plead guilty to an Information charging one count of attempted armed bank robbery in violation of §§ 2113(a) and (d). Govt.’s Opp’n, Ex. 2 (Plea Agmt.) at 41-46, ECF No. [44-1]. As part of the terms of the plea agreement, the government indicated it would not seek any further criminal charges against Mr. Sumner for the any acts or conduct relating to the events set out in the Information and Factual Proffer. Moreover, the government withdrew its Notice of Mandatory Life Imprisonment Upon Conviction Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c)(4).
Pursuant to Rule 11(e)(1)(C) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure [Mr. Sumner] and the Government agree that the appropriate sentence for the offense to which your client is pleading guilty is a twenty-five year sentence of imprisonment followed by a five year period of supervised release .... If the Court accepts the plea agreement and the specific sentence agreed upon by the parties, then the Court will embody in the judgment and sentence the disposition provided for in this plea agreement, pursuant to Rule 11(e)(3) ....
Id. The Court conducted a plea colloquy on May 3, 2001, and ultimately accepted Mr. Sumner’s guilty plea and the parties’ agreed-upon sentence as described in the plea agreement as reasonable. On July 26, 2001, the Court sentenced Mr. Sumner to a twenty-five year term of imprisonment followed by a five-year period of supervised release. Mr. Sumner did not file a direct appeal of his conviction or sentence. On July 24, 2002, Mr. Sumner filed a Motion Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence by Person in Federal Custody which the Court denied pursuant to a Memorandum Opinion and accompanying Order. See Mem. Op. (Jun. 26, 2004); Order (Jun. 26, 2004). On April 25, 2005, Mr. Sumner filed an Application for Certificate of Appealability which the Court denied pursuant to a Memorandum Opinion and accompanying Order. See Mem. Op. (May 20, 2005), ECF No. [38]; Mem. Op. (May 20, 2005), ECF No. [39]. Mr. Sumner now moves to reduce his sentence.
II. DISCUSSION
Generally, a federal court “may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed.” 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c); see also Dillon v. United States, 560 U.S. 817, 819, 130 S.Ct. 2683, 177 L.Ed.2d 271 (2010). However, section 3582(c) of Title 18 of the United States Code provides three exceptions to this general rule. Specifically, the Court is authorized to modify a term of imprisonment once imposed only
First, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons has not filed a motion requesting that Mr. Sumner’s sentence be reduced. Second, the Court is not expressly permitted by statute or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35 to reduce Mr. Sumner’s sentence. Mr. Sumner has not pointed to any statutory provision that would allow the Court to reduce his sentence. Further, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35 only authorizes the reduction of a sentence within 14 days of sentencing to correct a clear error, or upon motion of the government if a defendant, after sentencing, provided substantial assistance to the government. Fed. R. Crim. Proc. 35(a)-(b). Neither of the provisions of Rule 35 is applicable here.
Finally, the applicable guideline range has not been retroactively lowered by the Sentencing Commission and Mr. Sumner was sentenced above the applicable guideline range. Indeed, Mr. Sumner’s sentence was imposed in light of the parties’ Rule 11(e)(1)(C) (now Rule 11(c)(1)(C)) plea agreement and the Court expressly departed from the guideline range in imposing Mr. Sumner’s sentence. Pursuant to the terms of that plea agreement, the parties agreed that a 25-year (300-month) period of incarceration was an appropriate sentence for attempted armed bank robbery, the offense to which Mr. Sumner pled guilty. The Court accepted the parties’ plea agreement and ultimately sentenced Mr. Sumner to the agreed-upon 25-year term of imprisonment after conducting a plea colloquy, reviewing the Presen-tence Investigation Report, and describing its basis for the sentence on the record during the sentencing hearing. In imposing this sentence, the Court noted that imprisonment range under the guidelines was 188 to 235 months. However, the Court departed from the guideline range, specifically noting in the Statement of Reasons that there was a Rule 11(e)(1)(C) plea and indicating: “As part of plea, life papers were withdrawn. Sentenced to statutory maximum.” Judgment (Aug. 9, 2001) at 7. As such, while the Court considered the guideline range, it ultimately elected to sentence Mr. Sumner above that range in light of the parties’ plea agreement and after its own independent consideration as to whether to accept the parties’ agreed-upon sentence as appropriate. Moreover, as the government notes in its opposition, the guideline range for attempted armed bank robbery has not been subsequently lowered by the United States Sentencing Commission. Compare U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1 with Presentence Investigation Report at 5 (Offense Level Computation) (both setting forth a base offense level of 20 pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1, a 2-point increase because the offense involved the property of a financial institution pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1(b)(l), and a 2-point increase because ' the offense involved a threat of death pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1(b)(2)(F)). Accordingly, there is no valid basis for the Court to reduce Mr. Sumner’s sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c) and Mr. Sumner has not provided the Court with any other authority under which it may reduce his sentence.
Although the Court has found that Mr. Sumner is ineligible for a sentence reduction, the Court shall briefly address Mr. Sumner’s specific objection to his sentence.
In Holloway, the defendant moved to reopen his § 2255 proceeding under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) and, approximately nineteen years after the defendant began serving his sentence,
Finally, the Court notes that the instant decision does not affect Mr. Sumner’s pending [46] “abridged” motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 which asserts that Mr.
III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds Mr. Sumner is not eligible for a reduction of his current sentence at this time because he does not meet the criteria as laid out in 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c) and the Court has determined no other basis for granting his request. Accordingly, Mr. Sumner’s [42] motion for reduction of sentence is DENIED. An appropriate Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.
. Def.’s Ltr. (“Def.’s Mot.”), ECF No. [42]; Govt.’s Opp'n to Def.’s Mot. to Reduce Sentence ("Govt.’s Opp'n”), ECF No. [44], Mr. Sumner filed no reply.
. The following account of the facts underlying Mr. Sumner’s conviction are taken from the Factual Proffer in Support of the Guilty Plea in this matter.
. Defendant had prior convictions for rape and robbery and a separate conviction for robbery involving a bank.
. This is a rough estimate based on the information provided in the opinion. The opinion indicates that the carjackings occurred in October 1994, that defendant proceeded to trial in 1995, and that the government set forth its position as described during a hearing held on July 10, 2014.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Dwayne Keith SUMNER
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published