United States v. Wayne Lawson Anthony Straw

275 F. App'x 831
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedApril 28, 2008
Docket07-13717
StatusUnpublished

This text of 275 F. App'x 831 (United States v. Wayne Lawson Anthony Straw) 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. Wayne Lawson Anthony Straw, 275 F. App'x 831 (11th Cir. 2008).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

After pleading guilty, Wayne Straw appeals his 50-month sentence for illegal reentry after deportation, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), (b)(2). After review, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Straw, a native and citizen of Jamaica, was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1979, when he was fifteen years old. In 1986, Straw was convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and carrying a firearm without a license and was deported to Jamaica. 1 In 1989, Straw was convicted of illegally reentering the United States, served a 180-day sentence and was deported. In 1993, Straw was again convicted of illegal reentry and was given a 46-month sentence, after which he was deported a third time.

In February 2007, Straw was discovered inside the United States while Boarder Patrol agents and the Drug Enforcement Administration were conducting a controlled delivery of marijuana. Straw was a passenger in a truck that arrived to pick up the crate containing the marijuana. Straw was questioned and claimed to be a lawful permanent resident named Richard Grant. Although Straw was not charged in connection with the marijuana, he was taken into custody for failing to carry a certificate of alien registration. A check of Straw’s fingerprints revealed his true identity and immigration history.

Straw pled guilty to one count of having been found in the United States after having been previously removed and without the consent of the Attorney General. Straw’s Presentence Investigation Report (“PSI”) recommended, among other things, a 16-level increase in Straw’s offense level, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(l)(A), because Straw previously had been convicted of a crime of violence. *833 Straw did not object to this or any other guidelines calculations in the PSI. The PSI calculated an advisory guidelines range of 41 to 51 months’ imprisonment. In addition, Straw was subject to a twenty-year statutory maximum sentence, rather than a two-year statutory maximum sentence, because his removal had been subsequent to a conviction that was an aggravated felony. See 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2).

At sentencing, the district court adopted the PSI’s advisory guidelines calculations and, after hearing arguments from the parties, imposed a 50-month sentence. 2 Straw filed this appeal.

II. DISCUSSION

Straw argues that the district court committed plain error when it enhanced his sentence based on prior convictions that were neither alleged in his indictment nor proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. 3 However, as Straw admits, this argument is foreclosed by Almendarez-Toms v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 118 S.Ct. 1219, 140 L.Ed.2d 350 (1998). We repeatedly have explained that, even after Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and its progeny Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004) , and United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005) , we are bound by Almendarez-Torres until it is explicitly overruled by the Supreme Court. See, e.g., United States v. Greer, 440 F.3d 1267, 1273-74 (11th Cir. 2006); United States v. Gibson, 434 F.3d 1234, 1246-47 (11th Cir.2006).

Furthermore, at sentencing the district court did not resolve any disputed facts related to Straw’s prior convictions. Straw did not object to the prior convictions listed in his PSI or dispute the PSI’s factual accuracy and thus admitted the existence of those convictions for sentencing purposes. See United States v. Shelton, 400 F.3d 1325, 1330 (11th Cir.2005) (explaining that there is no statutory Booker error where the defendant’s sentence was enhanced based on facts to which the defendant did not object in the PSI at sentencing); United States v. Burge, 407 F.3d 1183, 1191 (11th Cir.2005). Therefore, the district court did not commit error, plain or otherwise, in using Straw’s prior convictions to enhance his sentence.

Straw also argues that his 50-month sentence is substantively unreasonable. 4 According to Straw, the district court placed too much emphasis on his criminal history and repeated illegal reentries into the United States to the exclusion of mitigating factors, such as the presence of his family in, and his cultural assimilation into, the United States.

We review the substantive reasonableness of a defendant’s sentence for abuse of discretion. See Gall v. United States, 552 U.S.-, 128 S.Ct. 586, 597, 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007); United States v. Pugh, 515 F.3d 1179, 1190 (11th Cir.2008). In arriving at a reasonable sentence, the district court must correctly calculate the advisory guidelines range and consider that advisory guidelines range and the factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). 5 See Pugh, 515 F.3d at *834 1189-90; United States v. Talley, 431 F.3d 784, 786 (11th Cir.2005). 6 Our review for substantive reasonableness is also guided by the § 3553(a) factors, taking into account the totality of the circumstances. Pugh, 515 F.3d at 1191. We will remand for resentencing only “if we are left with the definite and firm conviction that the district court committed a clear error of judgment in weighing the § 3553(a) factors by arriving at a sentence that lies outside the range of reasonable sentences dictated by the facts of the case.” Id. (quotation marks omitted).

At Straw’s sentencing hearing, the government argued for a sentence above the advisory guidelines range based on Straw’s criminal history. Among other things, the government argued that the prior 46-month sentence for illegal reentry had not deterred Straw from reentering the United States a third time and that a higher sentence was necessary to ensure deterrence.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Terrance Shelton
400 F.3d 1325 (Eleventh Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Joshua John Burge
407 F.3d 1183 (Eleventh Circuit, 2005)
United States v. John Kevin Talley
431 F.3d 784 (Eleventh Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Steven Gibson
434 F.3d 1234 (Eleventh Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Pugh
515 F.3d 1179 (Eleventh Circuit, 2008)
Almendarez-Torres v. United States
523 U.S. 224 (Supreme Court, 1998)
Apprendi v. New Jersey
530 U.S. 466 (Supreme Court, 2000)
Blakely v. Washington
542 U.S. 296 (Supreme Court, 2004)
United States v. Booker
543 U.S. 220 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Gall v. United States
552 U.S. 38 (Supreme Court, 2007)
United States v. Rodriguez
398 F.3d 1291 (Eleventh Circuit, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
275 F. App'x 831, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-wayne-lawson-anthony-straw-ca11-2008.