Filed: Mar. 05, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-4680 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. TODD A. KEMPTON, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Rock Hill. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Senior District Judge. (0:13-cr-00047-JFA-1) Submitted: February 23, 2015 Decided: March 5, 2015 Before KING and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed in part; vacated and remanded
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-4680 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. TODD A. KEMPTON, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Rock Hill. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Senior District Judge. (0:13-cr-00047-JFA-1) Submitted: February 23, 2015 Decided: March 5, 2015 Before KING and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed in part; vacated and remanded ..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 13-4680
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
TODD A. KEMPTON,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Rock Hill. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Senior
District Judge. (0:13-cr-00047-JFA-1)
Submitted: February 23, 2015 Decided: March 5, 2015
Before KING and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed in part; vacated and remanded in part by unpublished
per curiam opinion.
James P. Rogers, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Kimberly H.
Albro, Research and Writing Specialist, Columbia, South
Carolina, for Appellant. William N. Nettles, United States
Attorney, Jamie Lea Nabors Schoen, Assistant United States
Attorney, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Todd A. Kempton appeals from the criminal judgment entered
against him after he pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to
one count of failing to register as a sex offender as required
by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”),
in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a) (2012). Kempton was
sentenced to five months in prison with a life supervised
release term. Kempton challenges only his supervised release
term on appeal, asserting that the district court: (1)
miscalculated his supervised release Sentencing Guidelines range
under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 5D1.2(b)(2) (2012),
because he asserts that a SORNA violation is not a “sex offense”
warranting such a lengthy supervised release term; and (2)
failed to adequately explain its reasons for imposing a life
supervised release term as the reasons given “were general and
could apply to any SORNA defendant.” We affirm in part, and
vacate and remand in part.
Because Kempton did not object to his supervised release
term in the district court, and did not request a supervised
release term different than the one imposed, we review Kempton’s
challenges for plain error. United States v. Lynn,
592 F.3d
572, 576-77 (4th Cir. 2010). To establish plain error, Kempton
must establish that: (1) there was error; (2) the error was
plain; and (3) the error affected his substantial rights. Fed.
2
R. Crim. P. 52(b); Henderson v. United States,
133 S. Ct. 1121,
1126 (2013). Even if Kempton establishes each of these
elements, we may exercise our discretion to correct the error
only if we are convinced that the error “seriously affects the
fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial
proceedings.” Henderson, 133 S. Ct. at 1126-27 (internal
quotation marks and brackets omitted).
The district court’s calculation of Kempton’s supervised
release advisory Guidelines range was plainly erroneous, and we
find that the error should be recognized and corrected. See
United States v. Collins,
773 F.3d 25, 32 (4th Cir. 2014) (“We
find that failing to register as a sex offender under SORNA is
not a ‘sex offense’ for the purposes of the Guidelines.”); see
also United States v. Price, ___ F.3d ___,
2015 WL 427712, *9
(4th Cir. Feb. 3, 2015) (finding plain error where district
court imposed a life supervised release term for a § 2250(a)
conviction).
Accordingly, although we affirm Kempton’s conviction and
five month sentence, we vacate Kempton’s supervised release term
and remand for resentencing on the supervised release term. * We
*
Because we find that it was plain error for the district
court to impose upon Kempton a life term of supervised release,
we need not consider whether the district court provided an
adequate individualized explanation for the life supervised
release term.
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dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED IN PART;
VACATED AND REMANDED IN PART
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