United States v. Maddox

Opinion

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 05-4293

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

versus

KENNETH MAURICE MADDOX,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. W. Earl Britt, Senior District Judge. (CR-04-185)

Submitted: January 9, 2006 Decided: January 23, 2006

Before NIEMYER, WILLIAMS, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Thomas P. McNamara, Federal Public Defender, Stephen C. Gordon, Assistant Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant. Frank D. Whitney, United States Attorney, Anne M. Hayes, Assistant United States Attorney, Christine Witcover Dean, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, For Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). PER CURIAM:

Kenneth Maurice Maddox pled guilty to being a felon in

possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 70 months in prison.

Maddox appeals, claiming that the district court’s sentence was

unreasonable and inconsistent with United States v. Booker, 543

U.S. 220, 125 S. Ct. 738 (2005), and that the district court

improperly considered Maddox’s prior North Carolina convictions

when applying section 2K2.1(a)(2) of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

Manual (2004).

We affirm. The district court was aware of the advisory

nature of the sentencing guidelines and imposed a sentence that was

reasonable under the circumstances of this case. Maddox’s argument

that the district court improperly used his prior North Carolina

convictions is foreclosed by our decision in United States v. Harp,

406 F.3d 242 (4th Cir. 2005). We dispense with oral argument

because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in

the materials before the court and argument would not aid the

decisional process.

AFFIRMED