The Third Circuit revisited its recent opinion in United States v. Easter and the First Step Act. First, the Third Circuit joined the Eleventh Circuit in holding that, under the Act, sentencing courts are “bound by a previous finding of drug quantity that could have been used to determine the movant’s statutory penalty at the time of sentencing.” The Third Circuit then joined the Sixth Circuit in holding that resentencing under the First Step Act “includes an accurate calculation of the amended guidelines range at the time of resentencing and a thorough renewed consideration of the § 3553(a) factors.” Therefore, the sentencing court should have considered the interceding law between the defendant’s first sentencing and resentencing that held that one of his convictions was no longer a predicate offense for Career Offender status.
