Bloomberg Law
Feb. 1, 2023, 3:22 PM

Crack Cocaine Defendant’s Life Sentence Must Be Reconsidered

Bernie Pazanowski
Bernie Pazanowski
Reporter

The record in a drug defendant’s case didn’t sufficiently show that the district court considered all of his nonfrivolous arguments for reducing his life sentence under the First Step Act, the Fourth Circuit said.

The case was therefore remanded to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia so the judge could reconsider or explain why he denied Larry Reed’s request for a lower sentence.

Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act in 2010, which reduced the disparity in sentencing between offenses concerning crack and powder cocaine by increasing the amount of cocaine base required to trigger mandatory sentences. ...

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