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    United States v. Brian Thornton, 4th Cir. (2015)

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    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Brian Thornton's sentence of 250 months in prison for conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The court determined that Thornton qualified as a career offender based on his criminal history. It also found that the district court did not commit procedural error and that Thornton failed to rebut the presumption that his below-guidelines sentence was reasonable. Therefore, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment.

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    United States v. Brian Thornton, 4th Cir. (2015)

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    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Brian Thornton's sentence of 250 months in prison for conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The court determined that Thornton qualified as a career offender based on his criminal history. It also found that the district court did not commit procedural error and that Thornton failed to rebut the presumption that his below-guidelines sentence was reasonable. Therefore, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment.

    Original Description:

    Filed: 2015-01-14 Precedential Status: Non-Precedential Docket: 14-4348

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    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Brian Thornton's sentence of 250 months in prison for conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The court determined that Thornton qualified as a career offender based on his criminal history. It also found that the district court did not commit procedural error and that Thornton failed to rebut the presumption that his below-guidelines sentence was reasonable. Therefore, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment.

    Copyright:

    Public Domain
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf
    21 views4 pages

    United States v. Brian Thornton, 4th Cir. (2015)

    Uploaded by

    Scribd Government Docs
    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Brian Thornton's sentence of 250 months in prison for conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The court determined that Thornton qualified as a career offender based on his criminal history. It also found that the district court did not commit procedural error and that Thornton failed to rebut the presumption that his below-guidelines sentence was reasonable. Therefore, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment.

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    UNPUBLISHED

    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS


    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

    No. 14-4348

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,


    Plaintiff - Appellee,
    v.
    BRIAN ALLEN THORNTON,
    Defendant - Appellant.

    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
    District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Catherine C. Eagles,
    District Judge. (1:13-cr-00255-CCE-1)

    Submitted:

    December 22, 2014

    Decided:

    January 14, 2015

    Before MOTZ, DUNCAN, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.

    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

    Helen L. Parsonage, ELLIOT MORGAN PARSONAGE, Winston-Salem,


    North Carolina, for Appellant.
    Ripley Rand, United States
    Attorney, Kyle D. Pousson, Assistant United States Attorney,
    Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.

    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

    PER CURIAM:
    Brian
    written

    plea

    interstate

    Allen

    Thornton

    agreement,

    commerce

    by

    to

    pled

    guilty,

    conspiracy

    robbery,

    in

    pursuant

    to

    to

    interfere

    violation

    of

    18

    with
    U.S.C.

    1951(a) (2012), and possession of a firearm in furtherance of


    a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 924(c) (2012).
    The court sentenced Thornton as a career offender to 250 months
    in prison, a term below his advisory Guidelines range.
    challenges his sentence on appeal.

    Thornton

    We affirm.

    We review Thorntons sentence for reasonableness under


    an abuse of discretion standard.

    Gall v. United States, 552

    U.S. 38, 51 (2007); United States v. Cobler, 748 F.3d 570, 581
    (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 135 S. Ct. 229 (2014).

    The first

    step in this review requires us to ensure that the district


    court

    committed

    no

    significant

    procedural

    error,

    improperly calculating the Guidelines range.

    such

    as

    United States v.

    Osborne, 514 F.3d 377, 387 (4th Cir. 2008) (internal quotation
    marks

    and

    substantive

    alterations

    omitted).

    reasonableness

    of

    We
    the

    must

    sentence,

    account the totality of the circumstances.


    51.

    then

    consider

    tak[ing]

    the
    into

    Gall, 552 U.S. at

    Any sentence that is within or below a properly calculated

    Guidelines

    range

    is

    presumptively

    [substantively]

    reasonable.

    Such a presumption can only be rebutted by showing that the


    sentence is unreasonable when measured against the 18 U.S.C.
    2

    3553(a) [(2012)] factors.

    United States v. Louthian, 756

    F.3d 295, 306 (4th Cir.) (citation omitted), cert. denied, 135
    S. Ct. 421 (2014).
    The
    provides,

    in

    U.S.

    Sentencing

    relevant

    part,

    Guidelines

    that

    Manual

    defendant

    (USSG)

    is

    career

    offender if he was at least eighteen years old at the time of


    the instant offense, the instant offense is a drug felony or
    crime of violence, and the defendant has at least two prior
    felony convictions for drug offenses or crimes of violence.
    USSG

    4B1.1(a)

    (2012).

    Any

    prior

    sentence

    of

    See

    imprisonment

    exceeding one year and one month is counted if it resulted in


    the defendant being incarcerated during any part of the fifteen
    years preceding the commencement of his instant offense.

    USSG

    4A1.2(e)(1); 4B1.2 cmt. n.3 (stating that counting provisions


    of USSG 4A1.2 are applicable to counting of convictions under
    4B1.1).

    Generally,

    unless

    prior

    conviction

    has

    been

    reversed, vacated, or invalidated in a prior case, the court


    must count the conviction as a predicate conviction.
    States v. Bacon, 94 F.3d 158, 161 (4th Cir. 1996).

    United

    The record

    before this court establishes that Thorntons prior convictions


    satisfy
    offender

    the

    requirements

    enhancement,

    as

    for

    the

    they

    application

    resulted

    in

    his

    of

    the

    career

    incarceration

    during the fifteen-year period prior to the commencement of the


    instant

    offense.

    We

    further

    conclude
    3

    that

    Thornton

    has

    not

    rebutted the presumption of reasonableness afforded his belowGuidelines sentence.


    district court.
    legal
    before

    We dispense with oral argument as the facts and

    contentions
    this

    Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the

    court

    are

    adequately

    and

    argument

    addressed

    would

    not

    in
    aid

    the
    the

    materials
    decisional

    process.
    AFFIRMED

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