United States v. Fontanez, 4:19-cr-00102

Benjamin Fontanez III was sentenced to 79 months in prison in November 2019 after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Fontanez filed a pro se motion to reduce his sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and Amendment 821 to the United States Sentencing Guidelines, specifically Part A concerning “status points.”
Amendment 821, Part A, retroactively adjusts how “status points” are counted for criminal history in the Sentencing Guidelines, potentially lowering criminal history categories for some defendants.
At sentencing, Fontanez’s criminal history score (including status points) placed him in category III, with a guideline range of 70 to 87 months; he received 79 months.
Under the amendment, his status points would be reduced, but his total still leads to category III, so the advisory range does not change.
The government opposed the motion, arguing the amendment has no effect on Fontanez’s sentence, and the court agreed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Eligibility for reduction under Amendment 821, Part A	Fontanez’s guideline range could be lowered	Guideline range unchanged by amendment	Fontanez ineligible; motion denied
Impact of Amendment 821 on status points	Status points reduction affects sentence	No change in criminal history category	No effect on sentencing range
Applicability of § 3582(c)(2) for retroactivity	Amendment applies retroactively to sentence	No retroactive effect when range unchanged	No authority to grant relief
Necessity of § 3553(a) analysis	If eligible, court should weigh § 3553(a)	Not applicable unless eligible	Not reached due to ineligibility

Dillon v. United States, 560 U.S. 817 (2010) (establishing two-step process for sentence reduction motions under § 3582(c)(2))