United States v. James Lester Kimbrell, III, 670 F. App'x 690

James Kimbrell, III, pro se, moved under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) seeking a sentence reduction based on Amendment 782 to the Sentencing Guidelines.
Kimbrell was sentenced to 60 months for distributing pseudoephedrine (Count 1) and 108 months for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition (Count 2).
Amendment 782 retroactively reduced base offense levels in the drug quantity table (generally a two‑level reduction); for 36.5 grams of pseudoephedrine the base level dropped from 26 to 24.
The Sentencing Guidelines’ grouping rules (U.S.S.G. § 3D1.1) require the higher adjusted offense level from grouped counts to determine the applicable guideline range.
The district court denied relief because, although Amendment 782 lowered the base level for Count 1, Count 2’s higher adjusted offense level still controlled the guideline range.
Kimbrell appealed; the Eleventh Circuit reviewed legal questions de novo and affirmed the denial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Amendment 782 authorizes a § 3582(c)(2) reduction of Kimbrell's sentence	Amendment 782 lowers Kimbrell’s base offense level for the pseudoephedrine count, so his guideline range should be reduced	The amended base level does not change the overall applicable guideline range because the firearm count’s higher adjusted offense level controls under grouping rules	Amendment 782 does not alter the guideline range; § 3582(c)(2) reduction not authorized; affirm

United States v. Lawson, 686 F.3d 1317 (11th Cir.) (standard of de novo review for legal questions about § 3582(c)(2))
United States v. Hamilton, 715 F.3d 328 (11th Cir.) (§ 3582(c)(2) relief unavailable if amendment does not lower the applicable guideline range)
United States v. Bravo, 203 F.3d 778 (11th Cir.) (§ 3582(c)(2) does not permit consideration of extraneous resentencing issues)
United States v. Berry, 701 F.3d 374 (11th Cir.) (scope of district court authority under § 3582(c)(2) is narrow)