United States District Court, D. Connecticut
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION DENYING FIRST STEP ACT MOTION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OR RESENTENCING [ECF NO. 62]
Hon.
Vanessa L. Bryant United States District Judge.
Petitioner
Brian Slutzkin (“Mr. Slutzkin” or
“defendant”) brings this motion for relief under
Section 404 of the First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. No.
115-391, 132 Stat. 5194 (2018) (“First Step
Act”), arguing that he is statutorily eligible for a
sentence reduction and that keeping him incarcerated any
longer would serve no purpose. [ECF No. 62 at 1-4].
For the
following reasons, Mr. Slutzkin's Motion for Sentence
Reduction is DENIED.
Background
On
March 13, 2009, Mr. Slutzkin appeared in the United States
District Court for the District of Connecticut, waived his
right to indictment, and, pursuant to a plea agreement, pled
guilty to a one-count Information charging him with intent to
distribute five grams or more of cocaine base, or crack
cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 84a1(a)(1),
(b)(1)(B). [ECF Nos. 1, 3].
In the
Plea Agreement, the Parties agreed that Mr. Slutzkin had a
base offense level of 24 because the amount of narcotics
attributable to Mr. Slutzkin was at least 5 grams but less
than 20 grams of cocaine base. To reflect the offense
characteristics, two levels were added because a dangerous
weapon was possessed, and three levels were subtracted for
acceptance of responsibility. [ECF No. 3 at 5-6]. The Plea
Agreement included a “Stipulation of Offense
Conduct” in which the Parties stipulated that Mr.
Slutzkin “knowingly and intentionally possessed with
the intent to distribute 15.7 grams of . . . cocaine base
(‘crack'), . . . [and] possessed a dangerous weapon
at the time he possessed and intended to distribute cocaine
base.” Id. at 12.
The
Presentence Report calculated Mr. Slutzkin's Criminal
History Category as V, based on the following offenses:
• An April 25, 2003 conviction in Connecticut Superior
Court for the sale of narcotics.[1] [ECF No. 58-2 ¶ 32].
Mr. Slutzkin was sentenced to five years' imprisonment,
suspended, and five years' probation. Id.
• An October 25, 2007 conviction in Connecticut Superior
Court for breach of peace for assaulting his girlfriend by
grabbing her throat and throwing her to the
floor.[2] Id. ¶ 33. Mr. Slutzkin was
sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended, and 18
months conditional discharge. Id.
• A December 18, 2008 conviction in Connecticut Superior
Court for having a weapon in a motor vehicle.[3] Id.
¶ 34. Mr. Slutzkin was sentenced to one years'
imprisonment, to run concurrently with the following
conviction. Id.
• A separate December 18, 2008 conviction in Connecticut
Superior Court for two counts of assault in the first degree
and for having a pistol with no permit. Id. ¶
35.[4]
Mr. Slutzkin was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on
each count of assault, and two years' imprisonment on the
weapon charge; all sentences were imposed concurrently.
Id.
These
offenses led to eight Guideline criminal history points, and
two points were added because Mr. Slutzkin was on probation
when he was arrested for the federal offense. Id.
¶ 36. Mr. Slutzkin ‘s convictions placed him in
criminal history category V, id., which when
combined with a total offense level of 23, id.
¶ 67, resulted in a recommended Sentencing Guideline
range of 84-105 months, id., with a mandatory
minimum sentence of 60 months, id. ¶ 66, and a
minimum of four years of supervised release, id.
¶ 69, to run concurrently or consecutively to Mr.
Slutzkin's December 18, 2008 state sentence at the
Court's discretion. Id.
At his
June 26, 2009, sentencing, the Court imposed a
within-Guideline sentence of 84 months of imprisonment to run
consecutively to Mr. Slutzkin's state sentence, and five
years' supervised release.” [ECF Nos. 18, 19].
On July
6, 2009, Mr. Slutzkin filed a timely notice of appeal. [ECF
No. 20]. On appeal, Mr. Slutzkin argued that “(1) it
was error to add three criminal history points for the
December 2008 state sentence pursuant to U.S.S.G. §
4A1.1(a); (2) it was error to add two criminal history points
for commission of the instant federal offense while on
probation pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 4A1.1(d); and (3) the
district court improperly imposed consecutive, rather than
concurrent, sentences pursuant to U.S.S.G. §
5G1.3.” United States v. Slutzkin, 382
Fed.Appx. 65, 67 (2d Cir. 2010). The Second Circuit, via
Summary Order, “reject[ed] all of Slutzkin's
arguments and affirm[ed] the judgment of the district
court.” Id.
On
December 17, 2014, Mr. Slutzkin filed a civil habeas petition
under 28 U.S.C. §2255. No. 14-cv-1889 (VLB), [ECF No.
1]. Mr. Slutzkin's Petition requested that the Court
reduce his offense level by two based on Amendment 782 to the
United States Sentencing Guidelines, which effected a 2-level
reduction in the base offense level of certain drug offenses
carrying a mandatory minimum sentence. Id. at 6
(“On Nov 1st 2014 a 2 pt reduction was
applied to all drug federal offenses.”).
On
April 15, 2015, Mr. Slutzkin filed a motion requesting the
same relief in this case. No. 3:09-cr-00060 (VLB), [ECF No.
43]. In that motion, Mr. Slutzkin requested that “the
Court enter an amended judgment in his case pursuant to 18
U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) as it implements Amendment 782 to
the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Specifically, Mr.
Slutzkin asks this Court to reduce his sentence of
imprisonment from 84 months to 60 months.” Id.
at 1.
On July
20, 2015, the Court denied Mr. Slutzkin's civil habeas
petition as moot in light of his motion for the exact same
relief in this case. No. 14-cv-1889 (VLB), [ECF No. 4
(“Petitioner's motion to vacate seeks a two point
reduction in his sentence based on Amendment 782 to the
United States Sentencing Guidelines. See [Dkt. #1 at
6]. On April 15, 2015, Petitioner filed a motion seeking the
exact same relief in the related matter, U.S. v.
Slutzkin, No. 09-CR-60 (VLB) (D. Conn. filed Mar. 9,
2009). See [Dkt. #43]. As Petitioner's motion in
that earlier-filed case is presently pending,
Petitioner's motions in this separate action are wholly
duplicative, and the action is therefore dismissed.”)].
The
Probation Office's “Amendment 782 Addendum to the
Presentence Report” noted that since his federal
sentencing in June 2009, Mr. Slutzkin had received the
following disciplinary citations and sanctions while in state
incarceration:
• “8/25/2014, SRG Affiliation, 15 days punitive
segregation, loss of community and telephone privileges for
45 days, loss of recreation for 10 days;”
• “7/30/2014, SRG Affiliation, 7 days punitive
segregation, loss of community and telephone privileges for
30 days, loss of recreation for 10 days;”
• “3/4/2014, SRG Affiliation, 6 days punitive
segregation, loss of recreation for 6 days, loss of social
visiting and social correspondence privileges for 20
days;”
• “8/28/2013, Security Tampering, loss of
recreation for 10 days, loss of community and social
correspondence privileges for 15 days;”
• “7/23/2013, SRG Affiliation, 7 days punitive
segregation, loss of recreation for 10 days, loss of social
visiting and social correspondence privileges for 30
days;”
• “6/6/2013, Flagrant Disobedience, 1 day in
punitive segregation and loss of recreation for 10
days;”
• “5/31/2013, Interfering with Safety/Security of
Institution, 7 days in punitive segregation, loss of
recreation for 10 days, loss of social visiting and ...