United States v. Alvaro Alvaran-Velez

Pillard, Circuit Judge:

The question on appeal is whether the Ex Post Facto Clause forbids applying a current U.S. Sentencing Commission policy statement, which offers sentence reductions only to those defendants whose original sentences are not already below newly reduced guideline ranges, to a defendant whose crime occurred before that version of the policy statement took effect. The defendant, Alvaro Alvaran-Velez, claims that he could have gotten a sentence reduction under the version of the policy statement in effect at the time of his crime. Using a newer version, he argues, violated the…