United States of America v. Eladio Soto Bouza, a.k.a. Fantoma

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
ELADIO SOTO BOUZA, a.k.a. Fantoma,
Defendant - Appellant.
No. 12-50238
D.C. No. 3:90-cr-00856-JAH
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
John A. Houston, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted November 19, 2013**
Before: CANBY, TROTT, and THOMAS, Circuit Judges.
Eladio Soto Bouza appeals pro se from the district court’s order denying his
18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) motion for reduction of sentence. We have jurisdiction
under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo whether the district court had
FILED
DEC 09 2013
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

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authority to modify a defendant’s sentence under section 3582(c)(2), see United
States v. Austin, 676 F.3d 924, 926 (9th Cir. 2012), and we affirm.
Bouza contends that he is entitled to a sentence reduction because the
government failed to comply with the requirements of 21 U.S.C. § 851 at his
original sentencing. This contention does not support relief under section
3582(c)(2). See Dillon v. United States, 130 S. Ct. 2683, 2691 (2010) (section
3582(c)(2) authorizes “only a limited adjustment to an otherwise final sentence and
not a plenary resentencing proceeding”). Bouza is not entitled to relief under
section 3582(c)(2) because he was sentenced in 1991 to a life term, the statutory
mandatory minimum under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) (1991), and not based on a
Guidelines range that was subsequently lowered. See 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2); see
also United States v. Augustine, 712 F.3d 1290, 1295 (9th Cir. 2013) (the Fair
Sentencing Act’s new mandatory minimums do not apply to defendants who were
sentenced before the Act’s effective date).
AFFIRMED.
2

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