United States v. Jordan

LUCERO, Circuit Judge.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), a district court may reduce a defendant’s term of imprisonment if it was “based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission.” This appeal requires us to address the “based on” requirement of § 3582(c)(2) in the context of a Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement.

Defendant Gregory Jordan was sentenced to 168 months’ imprisonment pursuant to a Rule 11(c)(1)(C) agreement that proposed a base offense level of 31 and a Guidelines range of 135 to 168 months. The district court accepted the plea…