Eleventh Circuit Rejects Broad-Based Minimum Sentence Reductions

When prosecutors file a motion to depart from a statutory minimum sentence based on a defendant’s substantial assistance, the extent of that assistance is all a district court can consider, the Eleventh Circuit said, tossing out two below-minimum sentences for fentanyl distribution conspiracy based on broader considerations.

The Florida district court concluded incorrectly that once the government filed its motion for a sentence reduction based on substantial assistance, it could consider all of the statutory sentencing factors under Section 3553 and impose any sentence it deemed warranted, Judge William H. Pryor Jr. said in the majority opinion filed Tuesday.

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