US v. Weldon Baker, Jr.

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 5:09-cr-00177-F-1. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999098033]. Mailed to: Weldon Baker. [13-6089]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-6089

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
WELDON BAKER, JR.,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Raleigh.
James C. Fox, Senior
District Judge. (5:09-cr-00177-F-1)

Submitted:

April 25, 2013

Before AGEE and
Circuit Judge.

WYNN,

Circuit

Decided:

Judges,

and

April 30, 2013

HAMILTON,

Senior

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Weldon Baker, Jr., Appellant Pro Se.
Amy Elizabeth Ray,
Assistant United States Attorney, Asheville, North Carolina;
Shawn Robert Evans, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY,
Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Weldon Baker, Jr., appeals the district court’s order
denying his 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) (2006) motion for reduction
of sentence based on Amendment 750 to the Sentencing Guidelines
and the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-220, 124
Stat.

2372

(“FSA”).

We

review

for

abuse

of

discretion

a

district court’s decision on whether to reduce a sentence under
§ 3582(c)(2) and review de novo a court’s conclusion on the
scope

of

its

legal

authority

under

that

provision.

States v. Munn, 595 F.3d 183, 186 (4th Cir. 2010).

United

Finding no

reversible error, we affirm.
In
agreement,

to

2009,

Baker

conspiracy

pled
to

guilty,

distribute

pursuant
and

to

to

a

plea

possess

with

intent to distribute fifty grams or more of cocaine base, in
violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (2006).

Baker was sentenced to the

statutory mandatory minimum term of 120 months’ imprisonment.
In 2012, Baker, through counsel, sought a sentence reduction,
arguing that had he been sentenced under the FSA, he would not
have been subject to the 120-month mandatory minimum.
Baker,

however,

enactment of the FSA.
not

apply

originally

237,

retroactively

246-49

(4th

sentenced

before

the

We previously have held that the FSA does
to

offenders

sentenced before its enactment.
F.3d

was

Cir.),

who,

like

Baker,

were

United States v. Bullard, 645
cert.
2

denied,

132

S.

Ct.

356

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(2011).

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Moreover,

because

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Amendment

750

did

not

lower

the

applicable Guidelines range, the district court properly denied
Baker’s motion to reduce sentence.

See Munn, 595 F.3d at 187.

Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order.
dispense

with

contentions

are

oral

argument

adequately

because

presented

in

the
the

facts

We

and

legal

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

3