United States v. Nelson, 1:14-cr-00006

Defendant Nelson seeks a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) based on the Sentencing Commission's Amendment 782, retroactively applied to reduce drug-quantity based offense levels.
Amendment 782 lowers base offense levels by two levels for quantities triggering statutory minimum penalties in USSG §2D1.1 and parallels §2D1.11.
USSG §1B1.10 governs retroactive reductions and requires compatibility with listed amendments and policy statements.
The court must apply the amendment only if its effective timing and other limits (e.g., §1B1.10(e)(1)) are satisfied.
On July 21, 2015, the court, after considering §3553(a) factors and §1B1.10 guidance, concluded a reduction is not warranted due to aggravating factors including prior violations and conduct.
The court expressly denied the motion ab initio, directing dissemination of the order to relevant parties.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Nelson is eligible for a §3582(c)(2) reduction under Amendment 782.	Nelson eligible under §1B1.10 and Amendment 782.	Reduction should be granted given lowered range.	Eligible but reduction denied.

Dillon v. United States, 560 U.S. 817 (U.S. 2010) (limits scope of §3582(c)(2) reductions to a narrow adjustment)
United States v. Auman, 8 F.3d 1268 (8th Cir. 1993) (§3582(c)(2) allows reductions based on lower sentencing range)
United States v. Harris, 568 F.3d 666 (8th Cir. 2009) (no right to counsel when pursuing §3582(c) relief; no hearing required)
Burrell v. United States, 622 F.3d 961 (8th Cir. 2010) (clarifies proceedings under §3582(c))