United States v. Rey Jamarron

652 F. App'x 773
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJune 9, 2016
Docket15-13045
StatusUnpublished

This text of 652 F. App'x 773 (United States v. Rey Jamarron) 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. Rey Jamarron, 652 F. App'x 773 (11th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Rey Jomarron appeals his 24-month sentence, imposed above the advisory Sentencing Guidelines range and at the statutory maximum, following revocation of his supervised release. On appeal, Jomarron argues that his sentence was procedurally and substantively unreasonable. After careful consideration, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Jomarron pled guilty to possession of counterfeit credit cards with intent to defraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1029(a)(3), (2). He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release.

Some time after his release, Jomarron was arrested in Pembroke Pines, Florida, when police received a call alerting them to a potential fraudulent transaction at a local Best Buy store. After receiving a description of the suspect, Officer Keith Forseth observed an individual, Jomarron, who matched the description walking through the parking lot of the Best Buy and carrying a Best Buy shopping bag. Forseth identified himself and directed Jo-marron to sit on a curb in the parking lot. Shortly after taking a seat, Jomarron dropped his bag and attempted to flee. Forseth managed to apprehend Jomarron. He then searched Jomarron and found a laptop in Jomarron’s shopping bag, a receipt for the laptop, and two debit cards in Jomarron’s name.

Another officer, Thomas Moran, determined that the debit cards were counterfeit after using a magnetic strip card reader to decipher the information encoded on the cards’ magnetic strips. The reader revealed that the cards were linked to Bank of America accounts but had the appearance of NetSpend Visa credit cards. Jo-marron was not an authorized user on either account even though his name appeared on both cards. Moran was also able to determine that Jomarron had used one of the counterfeit cards to pay for the new laptop in his possession.

Police arrested Jomarron and subsequently released him after he posted bail. After being released, Jomarron never notified his probation officer that he had been arrested. Instead, Jomarron fled to Panama. United States Marshalls eventually apprehended Jomarron when he attempted to reenter the United States at the Texas border.

The probation department filed a superseding petition alleging that Jomarron had violated the terms of his release by committing seven offenses: (1) illegal use *775 of a credit card, (2) forgery or alteration of a credit card, (3) grand theft, (4) resisting an officer, (5) failing to notify probation within 72 hours of being arrested or questioned by police, (6) failing to notify probation of a change in residence, and (7) leaving the judicial district without prior permission from probation. The probation department recommended that the district court revoke Jomarron’s supervised release and calculated a Sentencing Guidelines range of four to 10 months’ imprisonment. The statutory maximum sentence was 24 months.

At the revocation hearing, Jomarron admitted to violations five through seven of the superseding petition but did not admit to violations one through four. After hearing witness testimony and argument from counsel, the district court found Jomarron guilty of violations one through four. The court dismissed violations five through seven on the government’s motion.

At sentencing, Jomarron asked for a sentence at the high end of the guidelines range. He explained that he had struggled to find work after being released. He further described how he had fled to Panama because he was concerned about how his mother, who was very ill at the time, would be affected by his incarceration. He also claimed that his co-conspirators to the credit card scheme had threatened to shoot him if he did not leave the country.

The district court ultimately revoked Jo-marron’s supervised release and sentenced him to 24 months’ imprisonment, the statutory maximum. The court noted that it had “considered the statements of the parties, the testimony ... and the information contained in [Jomarron’s] violation- report.” Revocation Hr’g Tr. at 31 (Doc. 21). 1 The court further explained that a sentence at the statutory maximum was appropriate because Jomarron had “previously [been] convicted of possession of counterfeit access devices” and he had “now [been] found to have violated his supervised release by the very same conduct for which he was [previously] sentenced.” Id. at 32. Jomarron objected to the procedural and substantive reasonableness of the imposed sentence. This is his appeal.

II. DISCUSSION

“Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e), upon finding that [a] defendant violated a condition of supervised release, a district court may revoke the term of supervised release and impose a term of imprisonment” after considering certain factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). United States v. Velasquez Velasquez, 524 F.3d 1248, 1252 (11th Cir.2008). These factors include the nature and circumstances of the offense, the history and characteristics of the defendant, the need to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct, the heed to protect the public from further crimes, the pertinent policy statements of the Sentencing Commission, the need to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities, and the need to provide restitution to victims. 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e), 3553(a). When the district court determines that a variance from the guidelines range is appropriate, it must then consider the extent of the variance and ensure that there is a sufficiently compelling justification for it. United States v. Tome, 611 F.3d 1371, 1378 (11th Cir.2010).

We review a sentence imposed upon the revocation of supervised release for reasonableness. United States v. Sweeting, 437 F.3d 1105, 1106-07 (11th Cir.2006). In doing so, we review for an abuse of discretion. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 41, 128 S.Ct. 586, 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007). This standard reflects the due deference we *776 give to district courts because they have an “institutional advantage in making sentencing determinations.” United States v. Alfaro-Moncada, 607 F.3d 720, 735 (11th Cir.2010) (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, “[w]e may vacate a sentence only if we are left with the definite and firm conviction that the district court committed a clear error of judgment.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). We conduct a de novo

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Bluebook (online)
652 F. App'x 773, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rey-jamarron-ca11-2016.