U.S. v. Brewer, 4th Cir. Mar. 20, 2008
06-4836 U.S. v. Brewer
Before NIEMEYER and KING, Circuit Judges, and James A. BEATY, Jr., Chief United States District Judge1
KING, Circuit Judge: Arthur Leon Brewer appeals from his sentence of seventy months in prison, imposed in the Eastern District of Virginia on his 2006 conviction for distributing more than five grams of cocaine base (”crack”), in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). On appeal, Brewer, who is mentally handicapped, contends that the district court erred by, inter alia, denying him a downward departure based on diminished capacity and imposing a sentence that is unreasonable.2 As explained below, we reject each of these contentions and affirm. … U.S. v. Brewer.
- for the Middle District of North Carolina, sitting by designation. [↩]
- In connection with his unreasonableness contention, Brewer argues that Amendment 706, the Sentencing Commission’s recent revision to the Guidelines concerning crack offenses, applies to his sentence and mandates a remand for resentencing. As explained further in Part II.B.2, because the Sentencing Commission made Amendment 706 retroactive, the sentencing court possesses ample authority to consider this argument, and we neither resolve the issue nor remand. [↩]
