Case 1:07-cr-20508-JAL Document 187 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/30/2014 Page 1 of 4

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
MIAMI DIVISION

CASE NO. 07-CR-20508-JAL

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff,
vs.
DOLLY DE JESUS CIFUENTES-VILLA,
Defendant.
_________________________________/

DEFENDANT DOLLY DE JESUS CIFUENTES-VILLA’S MOTION FOR

REDUCTION OF HER DRUG TRAFFICKING SENTENCE
BASED ON USSC SENTENCING AMENDMENTS

COMES NOW the Defendant DOLLY DE JESUS CIFUENTES-VILLA and files

herewith her Motion for Reduction of her Drug Trafficking Sentence based on recently

approved amendments to the Drug Quantity Table and in support would show as follows:

1. Dolly De Jesus Cifuentes-Villa was sentenced on January 22, 2014 for two

Counts of Conspiring to distribute a narcotic substance, knowing that such substance

would be unlawfully imported into the United States in violation of Title 21, United

States Code, Section 963.

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2. Her Pre-Sentence Investigation Report found her Base Offense Level to be

34. However, her Total Offense Level was level 27 after a reduction for minor role; her

criminal history category was I; and, the advisory guideline imprisonment range was 70

to 87 months.

3. At her sentencing hearing, the Court, after taking into consideration her

minor role as well as the Sentencing Factors contained in 18 U.S.C. §3553(a), granted a

downward departure which resulted in a sentence at level 24 of 57 months imprisonment.

4. Defendant seeks herein a reduction of her sentence by application of

recently approved amendments to the Drug Trafficking Guidelines by the United States

Sentencing Commission.

5. If granted, Defendant expressly agrees that she will not later seek a further

reduced sentence under the 2014 amendment revising the drug quantity table.

6. Counsel has contacted AUSA Kurt Lunkenheimer regarding this Motion

and he objects thereto.

Amendment reducing drug trafficking sentences

In January, 2014, the United States Sentencing Commission voted to publish

proposed guideline amendments, including reductions to the sentencing guidelines levels

for federal drug trafficking offenses. The bipartisan Commission’s amendment proposed

to lower by two levels the base offense levels in the Drug Quantity Table across drug

types in guideline § 2D1.1, which governs drug trafficking cases. News Release, U.S.

Sentencing Commission, January 9, 2014. (Emphasis added)

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On April 10, 2014, the United States Sentencing Commission unanimously

approved the proposed two level reduction to the federal drug guidelines. The

amendment will take effect on November 1, 2014.

Since the original proposal to amend the guidelines in January, 2014, Attorney

General Eric H. Holder Jr. has called for reduced sentences for defendants in most of the

nation’s drug cases as part of his effort to cut the burgeoning U.S. prison population and

reserve stiff penalties for the most violent traffickers. Prior to the approval of the drug

trafficking guideline amendments, officials in reported interviews, said Holder was

instructing his prosecutors in a memo on Thursday [March 20, 2014] not to press

judges to impose the longer sentences in the current guidelines if attorneys for drug

offenders seek shorter sentences for their clients that would be permissible under

the new policy. [Emphasis added]

On July 23, 2014 it was reported that the United States Sentencing Commission

voted, again unanimously, to apply these recent amendments to the federal drug

sentencing guidelines retroactively to all eligible offenders. Retroactivity is to take effect

on November 1, 2015. Commission chairperson Patti B. Saris, a United States District

Court Judge for the District of Massachusetts has been quoted as saying “the delay [until

November 1, 2015] will help to protect public safety by enabling appropriate

consideration of individual petitions by judges, ensuring effective supervision of

offenders upon release, and allow effective reentry plans”

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Counsel understands that the prospective application of this amendment is now

routinely included by the United States in all current plea agreements where applicable.

Counsel is unaware of any judges in this district who have refused to apply the

amendment prospectively.

WHEREFORE, DOLLY DE JESUS CIFUENTES-VILLA respectfully seeks the

two level reduction unanimously approved by the Sentencing Commission. If granted by

this Court, the Defendant’s total offense level would be 22 with a range of 41 to 51

months.

Respectfully submitted,

IRWIN G. LICHTER, P.A.

Attorney for Defendant
1900 SW 3rd Avenue
Miami, Florida 33129
(305) 573-0551
(305) 858-9877
Fla. Bar No. 147988

s/ Irwin G. Lichter
by: IRWIN G. LICHTER, ESQ.

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was

electronically submitted on this 30 day of July, 2014 to Assistant United States

Attorney Kurt Lunkenheimer.

s/ Irwin G. Lichter
IRWIN G. LICHTER, ESQ.