IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
In Re: Petitions for Retroactive )
Sentences Previously Imposed for ) No. 11-MC-2042
Certain Crack Cocaine Offenses )
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
The United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) has again reduced somewhat the
longstanding disparity between sentences recommended by it for powder cocaine and crack
cocaine in the advisory sentencing guidelines. In the exercise of its lawful authority, the
Commission decided to make its advisory guidelines for these offenses, under certain
circumstances upon the appropriate findings of the presiding judge, retroactive. The effective
date of this retroactive application is November 1, 2011. However, the new statutory mandatory
minimums enacted by Congress contained in the Fair Sentencing Act are not retroactive, and the
statutory mandatory minimum penalties in effect at the time of imposition of a defendant’s
sentence are unchanged by the Sentencing Commission’s decision to make the new advisory
crack cocaine guidelines retroactive.
To ensure the efficient adjudication of requests seeking a reduction of a sentence
pursuant to the retroactive guideline amendment, this Court, en banc, orders the following:
1. The United States Probation Office shall contact those inmates who it determines
may be eligible for a sentence reduction pursuant to the retroactive amendment, informing them
of their potential eligibility and providing them with a copy of this Administrative Order.
2. The Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Central District of Illinois (FPD)
shall be appointed to represent each defendant (petitioner) who files a petition or motion seeking
relief pursuant to the retroactive guideline amendment, by whatever nomenclature the litigant
places on the document. The FPD shall thereupon decide specifically which attorney within the
FPD office shall be individually assigned to each case. Should the FPD determine that there is a
conflict for a particular petitioner, it shall file a motion to withdraw with the Court. Upon grant
of such a motion, the Court shall appoint a panel attorney to represent the petitioner.
3. Prior to the November 1,2011, effective date of the retroactive guideline
amendment, representatives from U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Probation Office, and the FPD
Office shall confer to identify those petitioners who may be eligible for immediate release on
November 1, 2011. In those cases where the U.S. Attorney does not oppose a sentence reduction
to “time served as of November 1, 2011,” the parties shall file prior to November 1, 2011, a
pleading with the Court indicating the agreement of the parties. In such cases, the U.S.
Probation Office shall provide the presiding judge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the FPD with
a brief summary of the petitioner’s original guideline calculations, new guideline calculations,
new projected release date, and a summary of any institutional adjustment or public safety
factors relevant to the judge’s decision. If the presiding judge accepts the recommendation of
the parties, it shall prior to the effective date of the amendment and without a hearing enter an
Amended Judgment and Conviction reflecting a sentence of “time served as of November 1,
2011,” which will allow for the immediate release of the petitioner on the effective date of the
amendment.
4. All other cases not addressed in paragraph 3 above shall be automatically stayed
until November 1, 2011. Petitioners shall have 120 days from November 1, 2011, or from the
date on which counsel was appointed, whichever is later, to file an amended petition and the
government shall have 30 days thereafter to file its response. Representatives from U.S.
Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Probation Office and the FPD Office shall confer periodically to
identify those cases where an agreement concerning a petition can be reached and file any such
agreement with the Court. In such cases, the U.S. Probation Office shall provide the presiding
judge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the FPD with a brief summary of the petitioner’s original
guideline calculations, new guideline calculations, new projected release date, and a summary of
any institutional adjustment or public safety factors relevant to the judge’s decision. If the Court
accepts the agreement of the parties, the Court shall without a hearing enter an amended
Judgment and Conviction reflecting the new sentence. Priority shall be given to those petitioners
eligible for release the soonest.
5. The clerks office is directed to implement this order by entering the FPD as
attorney of record in each case relevant to the issues discussed in this Order, sending a copy of
this order to the petitioner who seeks to have his sentenced reduced pursuant to the retroactive
guideline amendment and who files his moving document prior to November 1, 2011, and to
send copies of this order to the FPD, U.S. Attorney, and posting it on the District Court’s
website.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
ENTERED this 7th day of July, 2011
s/ Michael P. McCuskey
MICHAEL P. McCUSKEY
CHIEF U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE
