In а recent decision, this court resolved the “important issue” of “whether a district court has jurisdiction to resentence a defendant on an underlying, unchallenged drug trafficking conviction where, pursuant to
Bailey v. United States,
BACKGROUND
On October 5, 1992, pursuant to an agreement entered into with the government, Triestman pled guilty to the following three counts of an eleven-сount indictment: (1) conspiring to manufacture and distribute thirty-five pounds of 4-methy-lenedioxymethamphetamine (“MDMA” or “Eestacy”), in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846; (2) employing a minor, Anya Sheckley, in the manufacture and distribution of MDMA, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 861; and (3) using or carrying a firearm in connection with these drug-related convictions, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).
At sentencing, the district court (Ga-gliardi, /.) grouped Triestman’s two drug conspiracy counts and calculated his combined offense level to be 29 under §§ 2D1.1, 2D1.2(a)(2) of the Guidelines. The court adjusted this level downward by 3 points based on Triestman’s acceptance of responsibility, under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1. Ordinarily, thе court would have been required to increase Treistman’s offense level by 2 points for his possession of a firearm. See U.S.S.G. § 2Dl.l(b)(l). Because Triestman was also being sentenced for a § 924(c) violation, however, the court was precluded from doing so. See U.S.S.G. § 2K2.4, Application Note 2 (prohibiting the ordinary 2-level enhancement for possession of a firearm when defendant is separately convicted of using or carrying firearm in violation of § 924(c)). The court thus assigned Triestman a total offense level of 26 for his drug convictions, which resulted in a Guideline range of 63 to 78 months, and sentenced him to сonsecutive terms of 63 months, for his drug convictions, and 60 months, for violating § 924(c).
Triestman appealed his conviction, and this court summarily affirmed in
United States v. Triestman,
On May 3, 1996, Triestman filed another § 2255 petition in the district court challenging his § 924(c) conviction in light of
Bailey.
Triestman subsequently moved this Court to certify thаt this successive § 2255 petition was permissible. We denied the motion, however, because Triest-man’s argument relied neither on newly discovered evidence nor on a new rule of constitutional law, as is required for certification of a successive § 2255 petition.
1
See Triestman v. United States,
In our decision, we nevertheless noted that before the procedural bars against successive § 2255 petitions were codified by the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”), Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996), a petitioner was entitled to bring a successive § 2255 petition in light of an intervening change in substantive non-constitutional law, so long as the change applied retroactively and the petition alleged actual innocence in light of this change.
See Triestman,
Triestman subsequently brought a § 2241 petition in the district court (Scul-lin,
J.)
to challenge his § 924(c) conviction. The district court held that under
Bailey,
the facts elicited at Triestman’s plea allo-cution were indeed insufficient to sustain a conviction for using a firearm in violation of § 924(c), and the court vacated Triest-man’s § 924(c) conviction.
See Triestman v. Keller,
No. 97-CV-1460 (FJS),
On February 26, 1998, the district court held a hearing to resentence Triestman on his drug convictions. At the hearing, the court relied in рart on Triestman’s original presentence investigation report (“PSR”), which was then approximately five years old, and in part on testimony and evidence elicited at the hearing concerning Triest-man’s prison activities and intentions upon release. In recalculating Triestman’s total offense level for his drug offenses, the court used the same reasoning that was used in the original calculation, with one deviation: the court added 2 points to account for Triestman’s possession of a firearm. With a new total offense level of 28, and a sentencing range of 78 to 97 months of incarceration, the court resen-tenced Triestman to 85 months of imprisonment, to be followed by six years of supervised release. Triestman’s overall prison term was thus reduced by 38 months, although his sentence on his drug-related convictions was extended by 22.
On appeal, Triestman argues that (1) 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c) prohibited the district court from resentencing him on his unchallenged drug convictions; (2) the resentenc-ing placed him in double jeopardy in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution; (3) the district court violated Rule 32(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure by relying on a five-year-old PSR at his resentencing; and (4) newly discovered evidence entitles him to a new hearing on his claim that the government coerced his guilty plea by making false representations.
DISCUSSION
I. Resentencing Authority
Triestman argues that the district court lacked the power to resentence him on his unchallenged drug convictions in connection with his successful § 2241 motion. In support of this argument, he invokes 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(B), which authorizes courts to resentence defendants when, inter alia, “expressly permitted by statute.” 2 He contends that neither § 2241 nor any related provision includes such an express authorization.
In support of his argument, Triestman relies heavily on a contrast bеtween the statutory language governing remedies in § 2255 and § 2241 motions. Triestman concedes that courts have express authority to modify terms of imprisonment under § 2255, but notes that this power derives from the language of § 2255 itself, which states:
If the court finds [on a § 2255 motion] that ... the sentence imposed was not authorized by law or otherwise open to collateral attack ... the court shall vacate and set the judgment aside and shall discharge the prisoner or resen-tence him or grant a new trial or correct the sentence as may appear appropriate.
Triestman’s argument would prove too much. A very common reason for bringing habeas petitions has been to challenge a federal court’s imposition of sentеnces that violate the Constitution or federal law. Courts hearing § 2241 motions have traditionally had the power to vacate Or reduce such sentences when necessary to cure these kinds of defects.
See, e.g., Holiday v. Johnston,
There is, moreover, a less problematic way to read § 3582(c)(1)(B). Rather than mandating the use of explicit terms like “resentencing” or “correction of a sentence” before a term of imprisonment can be modified, § 3582(c)(1)(B) might be read as requiring only that a statute contain an express grant of remedial power, and that this power be broad enough to permit the resentencing in question. Section 3582(c)(1)(B) would then be read not as repealing any pre-existing statutory grants of power, but as prohibiting courts from resentencing prisoners without such a grant. The legislative history of § 3582 contains only one reference to § 3582(c)(1)(B), but this reference is illuminating. After describing § 3582 as allowing for three “safety valves” in which sentence modifications are permitted, the Senate Report on the Crime Control Act of 1984 explains that “[s]ubsection (c)(1)(B) simply notes the authority to modify a sentence if modification is permitted by statute.” S.Rep. No. 98-225 (1984), reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3182, 3304 (еmphases added). Read in light of the canon of construction that disfavors findings of implicit repeal in the habeas context, this history suggests that § 3582(c)(1)(B) was intended to recognize and preserve pre-existing statutory grants of remedial power in the habeas context rather than to repeal or limit them. We therefore adopt this latter reading.
Because § 2243’s authorization to “dispose of the matter as law and justice require” is broad enough to allow for resen-tencing in some circumstances — ie., such as when necessary to cure a constitutional defect — we read § 2243 as containing аn express grant of statutory power under § 3582(c)(1)(B) to resentence in those circumstances. The more precise question in this case is whether this power allowed the district court to resentence Triestman on his unchallenged drug convictions after he successfully challenged his related § 924(c) conviction.
The district court vacated Gordils’s § 924(c) conviсtion, but, much as in this case, resentenced him on his drug trafficking offense and added 2 points under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1) for the firearm possession. Gordils appealed, arguing that under § 3582(c), the court lacked the power to resentence him on this unchallenged conviction because § 2255 only expressly permits resentencing in the context of a challenged conviction. Id. We rejected Gordils’s argument, noting that
at least in the context of a “truly interdependent” sentence such as where a mandatory consecutive sentence affects the applicable offense level [on an unchallenged but related sentence] under the guidelines — the language of § 2255 provides sufficient statutory authority for a district court to exercise its jurisdiction to resentence defendants “as may appear appropriate.”
Id.
at 104. We then held, more precisely, that it is appropriate for a court “to resen-tence a defendant on an underlying, unchallenged drug trafficking conviction where, pursuant to
Bailey v. United States,
Other than the particular habeas statutes under which Gordils and Triestman proceeded, we find no meaningful difference between these cases that would affect the courts’ respective resentencing powers. We also see no reason to view a court’s remedial powers more narrowly in a § 2241 motion than in a § 2255 motion.
See, e.g., Swain v. Pressley,
II. Double Jeopardy
Triestman argues that even if the district court had the statutory power to resentence him, its exercise of that power violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Double Jeopardy Clause generally prohibits courts from enhancing a defendant’s sentence once the defendant has developed a legitimate “expectation of finality in the original sentence.”
United States v. DiFrancesco,
In
United States v. Mata,
the legal interdependence of sentences under the [Guidelines permits a court to reconsider related sentences in the context of a collateral attack. When a defendant elects to challenge one part of a sentencing “package” whose constituent parts are “truly interdependent,” review of the entire sentencing package does not constitute a double jeopardy violation .... Far from violating the Double Jeopardy Clause, the resentencing by the district court did nothing more than put [Mata] in the same position [he] would have occupied had [he] not been convicted under [section] 924(c) in the first place.
Id.
(internal quotation marks and citations omitted) (alterations in original);
see also McClain v. United States,
Mata
controls the outcome in this case. Although Triestman may have pled guilty to his drug charges in reliance on statements in his plea agreement and by the district court indicating that his total offense level for these convictions would be 26, these statements were made in the context of a larger interdependent sentencing package, which included sentences not only for the drug-related offenses but also for a § 924(c) conviction. The total offense level of 26 was, moreover, calculated in a straightforward manner under the Guidelines and was 2 points lower than it would have been absent Triestman’s § 924(c) conviction. Although Triestman had finished serving his original 63-month sentence for his drug convictions at the time of his resentencing, this fact is of little consequence because Triestman was still serving the overall term on his larger sentencing package.
See, e.g., United States v. Rico,
III. Evidence Relied on at Resentencing
Triestman argues that the district court violated Rule 32(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure by resentenc-ing him without an updated PSR. Rule 32(b) provides:
Presentence Investigation and Report
(1) When Made. The probation officer must make a рresentence investigation and submit a report to the court before the sentence is imposed, unless:
(A) the court finds that the information in the record enables it to exercise its sentencing authority meaningfully under 18 U.S.C. § 3553; and
(B) the court explains this finding on the record.
Triestman argues that the district court violated this rule by resentencing him in
“ ‘Generally, issues not raised in the trial court, including sentencing issues, will be deemed waived on appeal in the absence of plain errors or defects affecting substantial rights.’ ”
United States v. Margiotti,
In any event, we find no error—let alone plain error—in the district court’s use of Triestman’s original PSR.
See United States v. Yu-Leung,
In the present case, the district court held a hearing on February 26, 1998 to address outstanding resentencing issues. At the hearing, Triestman’s attorney indicated that Triеstman had not been involved in any difficulties or infractions during his incarceration and that he had been given “out custody” status, which permitted him to work outside the prison unsupervised. Triestman also testified that he had taught several classes in prison, that he had attended a 40-hour drug treatment course, and that he intended upon release to avoid all contact with drugs and to seek work in contracting, technical writing and computers. The court concluded from this evidence, as well as from a record of some of Triestman’s activities in prison provided by the government, 5 that Triestman had “bеen a good prisoner with a couple minor infractions.” Under these circumstances, Triestman had an adequate opportunity to be heard and to supplement his PSR as needed before his resentencing. We therefore reject Triestman’s argument that the district court violated Rule 32(b) by failing to order an updated PSR.
IV. New Evidence of Coercion
For the first time on appeal, Triestman argues that he should be granted a new hearing on whether his original guilty plea was coerced. In support of this argument, Triestman cites newly discovered evidence that he believes would justify relit-igation of this claim.
See, e.g., United States v. Salerno,
CONCLUSION
For the reasons discussed, we hold that the district court had the authority under § 2243 to resentence Triestman on his unchallenged drug convictions and to impose the overall prison term that he would have received absent his unlawful § 924(c) conviction. We also hold that the district court did not place Triestman in double jeopardy by resentencing him in this manner, even though he had already served his original prison sentence on his drug convictions. In addition, we find that Triest-man waived his Rule 32(b) claim, and that in any case, the district court properly resentenced Triestman on the basis of his original PSR and the evidence presented during Triestman’s resentencing hearing. Finally, we reject Triestman’s argument that he is entitled to a hearing on his coercion claim because this argument was not raised below. For all of these reasons, we affirm the district court’s judgment in its entirety.
Notes
. Section 2255 states that:
[a] second or successive motion must be certified as provided in section 2244 by а panel of the appropriate court of appeals to contain—
(1) newly discovered evidence that, if proven and viewed in light of the evidence as a whole, would be sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable factfinder would have found the movant guilty of the offense; or (2) a new rule of constitutional law, made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court, that was previously unavailable.
. Section 3582(c)(1)(B) allows for sentence modifications when "otherwise expressly permitted by statute or by Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.” Both parties agree, however, that Rule 35 is inapplicable to this case. Section 3582(c) also permits courts to modify terms of imprisonment in two other circumstances, neither of which is applicable to this case: (1) in "the unusual case in which the defendant’s circumstances are so changed, such as by terminal illness [or reaching the age of 70 after having served at least 30 years in prison], that it would be inequitable to continue the confinement of the prisoner,” S.Rep. No. 98-225 (1984), reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3182, 3304; see also 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(l)(A)(i) & (ii), so long as "a reduction [in the sentеnce] is [also] consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission,” 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A); and (2) "in the case of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 994(o) ... if such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission,” 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2).
. In an attempt to avoid the reach of
Mata,
Triestman relies on
Stewart v. Scully,
. For these reasons, we also reject the suggestion that
Miller v. United States,
. Triestman argues that the district court erred by relying on this record because the record had not been disclosed to him. Triest-man, however, failed to object to the court's reliance on this evidence at the hearing, and he thereby waived this claim.
See Yu-Leung,
