United States v. Johnson, 8:17-cr-00345

Lewis Jeremiah Johnson was convicted and sentenced to 144 months on firearms and drug trafficking charges, with a mandatory 60-month consecutive sentence for possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
At sentencing, Johnson was determined to have 20 criminal history points, categorizing him as a career offender (category VI).
The court granted a downward variance based on mitigating circumstances, including Johnson's acquisition of a weapon during an emergency after being shot during a robbery.
Johnson sought a reduction of sentence based on Amendment 821 to the Sentencing Guidelines and, alternatively, compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A).
The U.S. Probation Office and a Federal Defender found Johnson ineligible for relief under Amendment 821 because he had more than zero criminal history points and no status points.
The court considered, and rejected, Johnson’s arguments for compassionate release due to alleged extraordinary circumstances and nonviolent prison conduct.

Issue	Johnson's Argument	United States' Argument	Held
Eligibility for sentence reduction under Amendment 821	He qualifies for a two-level offense level reduction	He is ineligible due to criminal history points	Not eligible for reduction
Correctness of criminal history calculation	Criminal history points were incorrectly applied	Points correctly scored, as affirmed by appellate court	Points were properly calculated
Compassionate release under § 3582(c)(1)(A)	Extraordinary/nonviolent circumstances warrant reduction	No extraordinary/compelling reasons; public safety concerns	No extraordinary or compelling reasons
Appropriateness of further sentence reduction under § 3553(a)	Sentence should be reduced due to mitigating circumstances	Would undermine seriousness of offenses and deterrence	Reduction not warranted under § 3553(a)