United States of America v. Demoreray Jackson

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 12a0074n.06
No. 10-1812
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
DEMORERAY JACKSON,
Defendant-Appellant.
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ON APPEAL FROM THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT FOR THE WESTERN
DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
O P I N I O N
BEFORE: SILER and KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judges; ADAMS, District Judge.*
JOHN R. ADAMS, District Judge. On January 26, 2010, Demoreray Jackson was convicted
of one count of conspiracy to distribute five or more grams of cocaine base and one count of
distributing or causing to be distributed five or more grams of cocaine base. Based on Jackson’s
prior felony drug convictions, he faced a mandatory minimum prison sentence for each count of not
less than ten years up to life. On June 7, 2010, the district judge ordered Jackson to serve a
statutory-minimum 120-month sentence of incarceration for each count, to be served concurrently.
Jackson now seeks review of his sentence, on the grounds that the district judge should have applied
retroactively the provisions of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. We AFFIRM the sentence imposed
by the district judge.
The Honorable John R. Adams, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio, sitting by
*
designation.

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No. 10-1812
United States v. Jackson
I.
We “review a district court’s sentencing determination for reasonableness under ‘a
deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.’” United States v. Petrus, 588 F.3d 347, 351
(6th Cir. 2009) (quoting United States v. Bolds, 511 F.3d 568, 578 (6th Cir. 2007)).
Factual determinations are reviewed for clear error, or a “‘definite and firm
conviction that a mistake has been committed.’” United States v. Lalonde, 509 F.3d
750, 763 (6th Cir. 2007) (quoting United States v. McGee, 494 F.3d 551, 554 (6th
Cir. 2007)). Legal questions are reviewed de novo. Id.
United States v. Greer, 415 Fed.App’x. 673, 676 (6th Cir. 2011).
II.
The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 became effective August 3, 2010. Pub.L. 111-220, 124
Stat. 2372. The statute raised the threshold for imposition of a 120-month statutory minimum prison
sentence from five (5) grams of crack cocaine to 28 grams for persons who had been previously
convicted of a felony drug offense. See id. at Sec. 2(a)(2) (amending 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(B)(iii)).
Jackson had 11.72 grams of crack cocaine, so he would be subject to the statutory minimum under
the old version but not under the new. Consequently, Jackson argues that the new version of the
statute should apply.
This Court has previously concluded that a statutory minimum sentence imposed under § 841
prior to the effective date of the Fair Sentencing Act may not be vacated through retroactive
application of the Act. United States v. Carradine, 621 F.3d 575, 580 (6th Cir. 2010). This Court
has repeatedly rejected retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act and upheld the sentences
imposed on defendants under the previous version of the statute. Id.; United States v. Greer, 415
Fed.App’x at 677; United States v. Marrero, 651 F.3d 453, 475-476 (6th Cir. 2011). Therefore, this
Court will not remand this matter for resentencing under the amended penalty provisions of § 841(b).
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No. 10-1812
United States v. Jackson
III.
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s decision sentencing Jackson to
120 months imprisonment.
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