Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
No. 15-4264
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern
District of West Virginia, at Charleston.
Thomas E. Johnston,
District Judge. (2:14-cr-00174-1)
Submitted:
Decided:
PER CURIAM:
Jon Paul Clements pled guilty, without a plea agreement, to
four counts of distributing heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C.
841(a)(1)
(2012).
The
district
court
sentenced
him,
as
abuse-of-discretion
standard.
Gall
v.
United
consideration
procedural
of
both
the
reasonableness,
we
and
Id. at 51.
evaluate
substantive
In determining
whether
the
district
the
advisory
Guidelines
range,
failing
to
Id.
at 49-51; see United States v. Lynn, 592 F.3d 572, 575 (4th Cir.
2010).
If
we
find
no
procedural
error,
then
we
examine
the
appeal
that
within-
substantively reasonable.
or
We presume
below-Guidelines
sentence
is
295, 306 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 135 S. Ct. 421 (2014).
The
Id.
even
if
the
sentence
F.3d
583,
590
(4th
Cir.
would
not
have
been
the
2013)
(internal
quotation
marks
omitted).
Clements contends that his sentence is unreasonable because
the
court
taking
failed
into
impermissibly
addressed
his
considered
the
weigh
history
dismissed
the
and
and
3553(a)
factors
characteristics,
acquitted
by
and
conduct
when
We disagree.
fashioning
Specifically,
properly
account
sentencing him.
In
to
18
the
Clements
U.S.C.
court
sentence,
the
3553(a)
noted
that
district
sentencing
while
Clements
court
factors.
offenses
and
that
Clements
sentence
need[ed]
to
send
the
The
that
range
was
sentence
appropriate
within
and
the
career
necessary
to
offender
deter
Guidelines
Clements
from
All
to
of
these
several
considerations
3553(a)
by
the
factors.
court
speak
18
U.S.C.
See
to
protect
the
public
from
further
crimes
of
the
defendant).
Turning to Clements claim that the district erroneously
considered dismissed and acquitted charges, read in context, the
district court mentioned these events in responding to Clements
request for a below-Guidelines sentence.
Remarking
that actions carried more weight than words, the court noted
Clements
dismissed
federal
charges
from
2010
and
2014,
and
acquittal
on
another
federal
charge
in
2014,
Clements
pled
guilty to a state drug charge, and the next month had resumed
selling
drugs.
The
court
found
that
Clements
actions
the
criminal
justice
system
and,
acquitted
and
dismissed
therefore,
within-
conduct
only
in
the
context
of
offender
district
courts
determining
factors.
2011).
predicate
the
have
weight
offenses
and
extremely
to
be
given
his
current
broad
each
crimes,
discretion
of
the
when
3553(a)
United States v.
Avila, 770 F.3d 1100, 1108 (4th Cir. 2014) (second alteration in
original; internal quotation marks omitted).
We
conclude
presumption
sentence.
of
that
Clements
reasonableness
has
accorded
failed
his
to
rebut
the
within-Guidelines
explained
lesser
its
sentence.
(2007).
court
basis
The
does
Rita
fact
not
for
v.
that
render
rejecting
United
Clements
his
Clements
States,
551
disagrees
sentence
arguments
U.S.
with
for
338,
the
unreasonable.
356
district
Cf.
Yooho
points,
rather
than
one,
for
his
2014
West
Virginia
history
point
in
criminal
history
score
because
offender.
Therefore,
question
the
he
did
was
district
not
affect
sentenced
court
did
The
Clements
as
not
career
err
by
we
affirm
Clements
sentence.
We
dispense
with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately
presented
in
the
materials
before
the
court
and