Third Circuit Holds That Murder in Furtherance of a Continuing Criminal Enterprise Is Not a "Covered Offense" Eligible for Resentencing Under Section 404(b) of the First Step Act

In United States v. Junius, 86 F.4th 1027 (3d Cir. 2023), the Third Circuit joined the Second, Fourth, and Sixth Circuits to hold that murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise ("CCE"), in violation of 28 U.S.C. § 858(e)(1)(A), is not a "covered offense" eligible for resentencing under Section 404(b) of the First Step Act.  A "covered offense" is an offense for which the statutory penalties were modified by the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010.  The Third Circuit found that although murder in furtherance of a CCE is predicated on a violation of a covered drug offense, the CCE offense is separate and is not a "covered offense" itself because its statutory penalties were unaffected by the Fair Sentencing Act.  The Third Circuit also held that resentencing was not required by the "sentencing package doctrine" because the defendants' sentences on the CCE offenses were not interdependent with their sentences on the covered drug offenses.

The opinion is available at: https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/222208p.pdf.