United States of America v. Michael Jerome Files

Mobile, Alabama criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with selling controlled drugs.



Federal law makes it illegal to sell a "controlled substance” without authorization. 21 U.S.C. § 841(a). The baseline penalties for violations are set forth in § 841(b)(1)(C). Larger quantities of drugs authorize (and sometimes require) higher penalties. Id. § 841(b)(1)(A), (B). But these quantities vary from one drug to another. Before 2010, it took a hundred times more powder cocaine than crack cocaine to trigger the increased penalties. See AntiDrug Abuse Act of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99–570, § 1302, 100 Stat. 3207, 3207-16. Public outcry about that discrepancy—and, in particular,

its racially disparate impact—led Congress to pass the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. See Dorsey v. United States, 567 U.S. 260, 268 (2012). Section 2 of that statute increased the quantity of crack cocaine required to trigger heightened penalties—but it did so only prospectively. See Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-220, § 2, 124 Stat. 2372.

Defendant's attempt to have his sentenced reduced was denied and the denial was affirmed.