United States v. Jerry Wayne Matheny, Jr.

450 F.3d 633, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 14754, 2006 WL 1651030
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJune 16, 2006
Docket05-6282
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 450 F.3d 633 (United States v. Jerry Wayne Matheny, Jr.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Jerry Wayne Matheny, Jr., 450 F.3d 633, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 14754, 2006 WL 1651030 (6th Cir. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

ROGERS, Circuit Judge.

This case concerns (1) whether defendant Jerry Matheny received adequate notice, pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(h), of specific grounds for an upward departure from the advisory guidelines recommended range, (2) whether the sentence imposed was reasonable, and (3) whether the district court’s consideration of Matheny’s prior arrest requires reversal under plain error review. Mathe-ny pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, distributing marijuana, and possessing dihydrocodeinone with the intent to distribute. The district court determined that, under the federal sentencing guidelines, the proper sentencing *635 range was from 24 to 30 months’ imprisonment. The district court, nevertheless, decided that the guidelines range failed to account for the seriousness of Matheny’s criminal history. The district court thus imposed an upward departure and sentenced Matheny to thirty-six months’ imprisonment.

We affirm Matheny’s sentence. First, Matheny received sufficient notice of specific grounds for an upward departure. Second, the district court’s sentence was reasonable. Finally, although the district court may have committed error in considering one of Matheny’s prior arrests when imposing sentence, this error does not require reversal because it was not plain and did not affect Matheny’s substantial rights.

In March 2003, Matheny sold a quarter pound of marijuana and 48 Lortabs (dihy-drocodeinone) to a confidential informant working with the Metro Nashville police. Immediately prior to the informant’s drug purchase, Matheny, with his wife’s permission, sold his wife’s gun to the informant. Matheny later testified that he had originally purchased the pistol for his wife because she felt uncomfortable when she was working alone at their business. Two days later, the informant purchased more marijuana and two oxycodone pills from Mathe-ny. All of these transactions occurred at Matheny’s business. When the officers executed a valid search warrant at Mathe-ny’s business several days later, they recovered about a pound of marijuana, 36 oxycodone tablets, and 129 dihydrocodein-one pills.

A federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment against Matheny. Math-eny agreed to plead guilty to three of the eight counts: being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924; distributing marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1).

The Presentence Report (PSR) recommended a criminal history category of I. Matheny had three prior convictions: one two-count, state-court misdemeanor conviction in 1988 for simple possession of marijuana and possession of a weapon; one state-court, class-E felony conviction in 1991 for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver; and one five-count, state-court multiple-felony conviction in 1999 for possession of marijuana, intent to deliver, and possession of a weapon. 1 Matheny never spent any time in jail for any of his convictions because all of his sentences were suspended. Only the 1999 conviction was counted towards his criminal history category; the 1988 and 1991 convictions were not counted by operation of U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(e)(3). Although he was also arrested four other times (in 1982, 1984, and twice in 1985), all of these charges were either dismissed or had unknown dispositions. The 1982 arrest was for possession of a controlled substance for resale, but this charge was dismissed.

The PSR recommended a total offense level of 21. The PSR recommended a base offense level of 20, a four-point enhancement for Matheny’s possession of a firearm in connection with the drug sales, and a three-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility. The PSR’s recommended guidelines range was 37 to 46 months of imprisonment.

In the section of the PSR entitled “FACTORS THAT MAY WARRANT DEPARTURE,” the PSR stated as follows:

Presentation of information in this section does not necessarily constitute a *636 recommendation by the probation officer.
Pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3, if reliable information indicates the criminal history category does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the defendant’s past criminal conduct or the likelihood the defendant will commit other crimes, the Court may consider imposing a sentence departing from the otherwise applicable guideline range.

The United States had no objections to the PSR, and it did not request any upward departure in its position paper. At the sentencing hearing, the United States argued that “if anything this individual, Mr. Matheny’s criminal history ... would be understated. He has had the repeated criminal conduct....” The United States ended its argument by saying that “this is a man that should serve a sentence and that sentence should be within the applicable guidelines as determined by Your Hon- or.”

At the sentencing hearing, Matheny testified that he had begun smoking marijuana at age thirteen. He stated that he began using painkillers after his mother died. To support his drug habit, Matheny sold drugs to three or four regular customers. Matheny also testified that he had successfully completed a drug treatment program after his arrest for the instant charges and that he had not taken any drugs since then. He also testified that he had begun working for Trees, Inc., which provided enough income to support his family.

Matheny objected to the PSR’s four-point sentencing enhancement for using a firearm in connection with the drug sale, arguing that the firearm was part of an independent transaction, not part of the drug sale. Although the district court described the resolution of the enhancement issue as a “close call,” the district court decided not to impose the four-point enhancement. The district court then noted that the total offense level, without the four-point enhancement, was 17 and that the corresponding guideline range was 24 to 30 months of imprisonment.

The district judge then stated as follows:

The Court has, of course, considered the guidelines range and furthermore pursuant to 18, United States Code, 3553, the Court has considered the factors set out therein. The history and characteristics of the defendant are certainly considered in that he has been an addict since his childhood and he has been involved in multiple drug offenses.
The Court has also considered the fact that he has made a substantial effort toward rehabilitation.

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Bluebook (online)
450 F.3d 633, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 14754, 2006 WL 1651030, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-jerry-wayne-matheny-jr-ca6-2006.