If a court throws out your loved one's old federal sentence and orders a new one, the First Step Act's lower § 924(c) penalties apply at the new sentencing. The Supreme Court decided this on June 26, 2025, in Hewitt v. United States.
Before 2018, a second § 924(c) gun count brought a mandatory 25 years, "stacked" on top of everything else. The First Step Act ended that for first-time offenders. Section 403(b) says the change applies if a sentence "has not been imposed" as of December 21, 2018.
Tony Hewitt and two other men were sentenced in 2009 to more than 325 years each. Later, their sentences were vacated, and they had to be resentenced after the Act passed. The Fifth Circuit said they could not get the new rules because they had been sentenced before. The Supreme Court reversed. A sentence "has … been imposed" only if it still exists. A vacated sentence does not count.
What this means for your family
This matters when a § 2255 motion or appeal succeeds in vacating a sentence. Common examples are cases where a § 924(c) count fell because a predicate no longer counts as a "crime of violence." At the new sentencing, your loved one should be sentenced under current § 924(c) penalties.
It does not reopen sentences that were never vacated. A person needs a valid way back into court first.
Your next step
If your loved one has stacked § 924(c) counts, have the case checked for any valid ground to vacate. Book a consultation to talk about your case.
Source: Hewitt v. United States, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 23-1002, 606 U.S. 419 (2025). Read the order or opinion