Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
No. 14-4218
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Elizabeth City.
James C. Dever
III, Chief District Judge. (2:12-cr-00023-D-1)
Submitted:
Decided:
February 6, 2015
PER CURIAM:
Lorenzo Pledger appeals the 216-month sentence imposed
following his guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess
with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine, in violation of
21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(C) and 846 (2012).
departing
(USSG)
upward
4A1.3,
under
p.s.
U.S.
(2013);
Sentencing
and
(2)
Guidelines
granting
Manual
downward
resentencing
because
his
sentence
is
substantively
We
abuse-of-discretion
significant
procedural
standard.
Gall
v.
United
including
improper
the
3553(a)
sentence imposed.
factors,
and
Id. at 51.
inadequate
explanation
of
the
the
district
court
procedurally
errs
in
its
Id.
Id.
(alteration
and
internal
quotation
marks
omitted).
Under USSG 4A1.3(a)(1), a district court may depart
upward
from
information
defendants
indicates
that
Guidelines
the
range
defendants
[i]f
reliable
criminal
history
criminal
will
commit
history
other
or
the
crimes.
likelihood
Where,
as
that
here,
the
a
structure
the
departure
by
moving
incrementally
down
the
district
court,
ritualistic
however,
exercise
in
To satisfy this
need
which
not
it
go
mechanically
en
selects.
route
to
the
category
or
offense
level
that
it
The
employ
an
incremental
approach
when
departing.
After
thirty
determined
Pledgers
district
departure
or
that
thirty-one,
level
thirty-two
under-represented
court
by
the
district
history.
justified
violent
court
appropriately
criminal
sufficiently
citing
the
nature
the
of
ultimately
accounted
for
Finally,
the
extent
of
Pledgers
its
prior
offenses, the fact that Pledger did not take advantage of the
repeated leniency he received when sentenced in state court, and
4
the
high
likelihood
that
Pledger
would
reoffend.
See
USSG
after
adjusting
Pledgers
total
offense
level
and
to
under
USSG
4A1.3
after
adjusting
([A]
Offender
sentencing
Provision
court,
after
overrepresented
finding
a
that
the
defendants
Career
criminal
In fact,
defendants
status
as
career
offender,
see
USSG
Accordingly, the
Whether
the
district
court
procedurally
erred
when
But even
the
alleged
error.
Gomez-Jimenez,
750
F.3d
at
383.
that
even
if
it
erred
when
calculating
Pledgers
contends
because
the
that
his
district
sentence
court
is
substantively
over-emphasized
his
courts
have
extremely
broad
discretion
factors.
2011).
huge dealer but placed more weight on the fact that Pledger
was
relentless
criminal
offense,
dealer
who
involving
engaged,
very
again,
harmful
in
serious
substances.
In
Finally, the
mere
fact
that
the
district
court
weighed
668
F.3d
95,
104-05
(4th
Cir.
2012).
The
sentence
under
the
3553(a)
factors
where,
after
of
recidivism
and
the
need
to
protect
the
public
error
test
is
satisfied.
7
Accordingly,
we
affirm
Pledgers sentence.
facts
and
materials
legal
before
contentions
are
adequately
this
and
argument
court
presented
would
not
in
the
aid
the
decisional process.
AFFIRMED