United States v. Annette Williams

281 F. App'x 919
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJune 17, 2008
Docket07-15485
StatusUnpublished

This text of 281 F. App'x 919 (United States v. Annette Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Annette Williams, 281 F. App'x 919 (11th Cir. 2008).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Annette Williams appeals her aggregate sentence of 135 months of incarceration for seven offenses involving: (1) conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846; (2) possession with intent to distribute at least 5 grams of cocaine base, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); and (3) possession with intent to distribute less than 5 grams of cocaine base and 3, 4-Methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (“MDMA”), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Williams argues that the district court improperly included in its drug quantity calculations drugs, which were for personal use. Additionally, she contends that her high-end Guidelines range sentence is substantively unreasonable. Because the district court properly included in its drug quantity calculations drugs that Williams claimed were for personal use and because the court imposed a substantively reasonable sentence based on consideration of the advisory Guidelines, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)’s factors, on the record before it, we AFFIRM.

I. BACKGROUND

A federal grand jury issued an indictment against Williams for the following crimes: (1) conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of cocaine base from October 2004 until September 2006, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1),(b)(1)(A), 846 (Count One); possession with intent to distribute .24 grams of cocaine base on 2 December 2004, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1),(b)(1)(C) (Count Two); (3) possession with intent to distribute .29 grams of cocaine base on 15 December 2004, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1),(b)(1)(C) (Count Three); (4) possession with intent to distribute approximately 13 and no less than 5 grams of cocaine base on 3 February 2005, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1),(b)(1)(B) (Count Four); (5) possession with intent to distribute .50 grams of cocaine base on 7 September 2006, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1),(b)(1)(C) (Count Five); (6) possession with intent to distribute 19 units of MDMA on 8 September 2006, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (Count Six); and (7) possession with intent to distribute approximately 14 and no less than 5 grams of cocaine base on 8 September 2005, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1),(b)(1)(B) (Count Seven).

After an initial plea of not guilty to all counts, Williams changed her plea to guilty as to Count One without a plea agreement. As part of this plea, Williams filed a factual resume wherein she admitted that she sold 15.64 grams of cocaine base to government agents and informants. Thereafter, Williams also entered a plea of guilt as to Counts Two through Seven without a plea agreement.

The probation office prepared a presentence investigation report (“PSI”) using the November 2006 Manual. The probation office assigned a base offense level of 34 pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2Dl.l(c)(3) based on the determination that Williams was accountable for the equivalent of between 3,000 and 10,000 kilograms of marijuana. It decreased the offense level by three levels for acceptance of responsibility and entry of a timely plea of guilt pursuant to § 3El.l(a),(b). Thus, the adjusted offense level was 31. The probation office placed Williams in criminal history *921 category III. Her criminal history included a 1997 federal conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base which included a term of supervised release ending on 23 September 2004. The resulting Guidelines range was 188 to 235 months of incarceration. The PSI also noted the following mandatory minimum sentences were applicable: (1) with respect to Count One, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A), a sentence of 10 years of incarceration; (2) with respect to Counts Four and Seven, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(B), a sentence of 5 years of incarceration.

Prior to sentencing, Williams filed objections to the PSI. She challenged the drug quantity of 245.4 grams of cocaine base that was attributed to her as relevant conduct in the PSI and which increased her base offense level by 8 levels. Rl-23 at 1-2, 5. She argued that only 15.64 grams should be attributed to her based on her admissions, the drugs she actually sold, and the drugs seized from her home. Id. at 2. She contended that reliance on Cleveland Pettaway and Charles Watson, the government’s cooperating individuals, to support an estimate of 212.63 grams received by her from them was misplaced and overstated the amount. Additionally, Williams argued that the 212.63 grams included the 15.64 grams that she admitted; thus, drug quantity double-counted some drugs. Id. at 3. Further, she argued that U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1 should not apply to her because she was in the position of a possessor, not a distributor. Id. at 3. Thus, she asserted that her total adjusted offense level should be 23 with a Guideline range of 70 to 87 months of incarceration. Id. at 6.

With respect to her sentence, Williams advised that she began using cocaine base 17 years ago at age 28 and had sought treatment for her addiction in 1994, 1999, and 2002-2003. However, she relapsed on completing her term of supervised release in September 2004 and used $100 worth of cocaine base each day thereafter. She maintained that she supported herself with legitimate full-time employment and spent her available money on drugs. In consideration of her addiction and 18 U.S.C. § 3553

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Bluebook (online)
281 F. App'x 919, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-annette-williams-ca11-2008.