USA v. Anthony Lewi

Filing

OPINION filed : We are bound by Blewett and accordingly, we AFFIRM, decision not for publication. Eugene E. Siler , Jr., Circuit Judge; Raymond M. Kethledge, Circuit Judge and Michael H. Watson, (Authoring) U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, sitting by designaiton.

Case: 13-6087

Document: 28-2

Filed: 07/24/2014

Page: 1

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 14a0556n.06
No. 13-6087
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
ANTHONY LEWIS,
Defendant-Appellant.

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FILED
Jul 24, 2014
DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk

ON APPEAL FROM THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT, WESTERN DISTRICT
OF KENTUCKY
OPINION

Before: SILER and KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judges; and WATSON, District Judge.*
MICHAEL H. WATSON, District Judge. Defendant pleaded guilty to possession with
intent to distribute more than fifty grams of cocaine base, possession of a firearm in furtherance
of a drug trafficking offense, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. In 2007, the district
court sentenced Defendant to a term of 180 months’ imprisonment, ten years of which
represented the statutory minimum for the crack cocaine count. In 2013, Defendant moved
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) to reduce his sentence under the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010
(“FSA”), Pub. L. No. 11-220, 124 Stat. 2372, relying on United States v. Blewett, 719 F.3d 482
(6th Cir. 2013), rev’d en banc, 746 F.3d 647 (6th Cir. 2013), cert. denied, 134 S. Ct. 1779
(2014).

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The Honorable Michael H. Watson, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, sitting
by designation.

Case: 13-6087

Document: 28-2

Filed: 07/24/2014

Page: 2
United States v. Lewis
Case No. 13-6087

The FSA raised the minimum quantities of crack cocaine required to trigger the
mandatory minimum sentences set forth in 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1).

Defendant asserts that

application of the FSA would reduce his sentence by about three years.
The district court denied Defendant’s motion to reduce sentence without prejudice after
en banc review was granted in Blewett. On appeal, Defendant argues that the district court’s
refusal to apply the FSA retroactively to the sentence for possession with intent to distribute
crack cocaine deprived him of due process and equal protection of the laws under the Fifth
Amendment and violated his right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the
Eighth Amendment.
Defendant expressly acknowledges that this court’s en banc decision in Blewett bars the
relief he seeks. The en banc majority in Blewett held that the FSA’s new mandatory minimums
for crack cocaine apply only to sentences imposed after the FSA’s effective date and further
rejected the very constitutional arguments Defendant advances in his appeal. 746 F.3d at 650.
Defendant continues to prosecute his appeal solely to preserve his arguments for review by the
United States Supreme Court. We are bound by Blewett, and accordingly, we AFFIRM.