United States v. Derry

BARRINGTON D. PARKER, Circuit Judge:

A federal sentence ordinarily may not be modified once it has been imposed. 18 U.S.C. § 3582(b). An exception to this rule of finality arises when a defendant has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment “based on” a sentencing range that has “subsequently been lowered by” a retroactive amendment to the United States Sentencing Guidelines, id. § 3582(c)(2), and the “guideline range applicable to the defendant” has been “lowered as a result,” U.S.S.G. § lB1.10(a)(l). Under those circumstances, a district court may modify the term of imprisonment based upon…