McNealy v. United States of America

Filing 6

MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Chief Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn on 9/30/2013. (KAM, )

FILED
2013 Sep-30 PM 04:44
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
EASTERN DIVISION
MARLON McNEALY,

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Petitioner,
v.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Respondent.

Case No. 1:11-cv-2769-SLB

MEMORANDUM OPINION
The magistrate judge has entered a report and recommendation that the
petitioner's motion for sentence reduction under the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 be
denied. The parties were allowed therein fourteen (14) days in which to file
objections to the recommendations made by the magistrate judge. No objections have
been filed by petitioner or respondent.
After careful consideration of the record in this case and the magistrate
judge’s report and recommendation, the court hereby ADOPTS the report of the
magistrate judge except that this court specifically declines to make any findings as
to the retroactivity of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 to defendants who, like
petitioner, both committed their offenses and were sentenced before the law took
effect. The court notes that, since the entry of the report and recommendation, the
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United States Supreme Court addressed a similar but distinct issue, ruling in Dorsey
v. United States, 132 S. Ct. 2321 (2012), that the Fair Sentencing Act applies to
defendants who committed their offenses before the law took effect, but were
sentenced afterwards. The court finds that applying the Fair Sentencing Act to
petitioner would not allow for a reduction of his sentence, as the weight of crack
cocaine found attributable to him would still greatly exceed the amount necessary to
trigger a mandatory life sentence.
The court ACCEPTS the recommendation of the magistrate judge that the
motion for a sentence reduction under the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 be denied.
A separate Order in conformity with this Memorandum Opinion will be
entered contemporaneously herewith.
DONE this 30th day of September, 2013.

SHARON LOVELACE BLACKBURN
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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