United States v. Cesar Camacho-Rosales, 668 F. App'x 15

Cesar Camacho-Rosales pled guilty to distribution and conspiracy to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine (indicted quantity 23.94 kg).
At sentencing (Feb 16, 2012) he received the statutory mandatory minimum of 120 months’ imprisonment under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b); his Guidelines range was 121–150 months.
The Third Circuit previously affirmed that he could not receive a sentence below the statutory minimum.
In Dec. 2014 Camacho-Rosales moved under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) seeking reduction based on the Sentencing Commission’s 2014 Amendment 782, which lowered offense levels in the Drug Quantity Table.
The District Court denied relief because the statutory mandatory minimum of 120 months remained the controlling floor, so application of Amendment 782 would not "lower the defendant’s applicable guideline range.”
This appeal challenges that denial; the panel affirms.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Amendment 782 "lowers the defendant's applicable guideline range" for § 3582(c)(2) relief	Amendment 782 reduces offense levels and thus lowers Camacho-Rosales’ Guidelines range, entitling him to a sentence reduction	The statutory 120-month mandatory minimum remains the applicable floor, so the amendment does not in effect lower the applicable Guidelines range	The court held Amendment 782 does not lower Camacho-Rosales’ applicable guideline range because the unchanged statutory mandatory minimum controls; denial of § 3582(c)(2) relief affirmed

United States v. Duran, [citation="528 F. App'x 215"] (3d Cir. 2013) (affirming that defendant could not receive a sentence below statutory minimum)
United States v. Weatherspoon, 696 F.3d 416 (3d Cir. 2012) (discussing plenary review and § 3582(c)(2) standard)