Filed: May 20, 2016
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-4681 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. MICHAEL WAYNE CASTEEN, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Fox, Senior District Judge. (7:05-cr-00029-F-2) Submitted: May 18, 2016 Decided: May 20, 2016 Before SHEDD, DIAZ, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Thomas P. McNamara, Federa
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-4681 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. MICHAEL WAYNE CASTEEN, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Fox, Senior District Judge. (7:05-cr-00029-F-2) Submitted: May 18, 2016 Decided: May 20, 2016 Before SHEDD, DIAZ, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Thomas P. McNamara, Federal..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 15-4681
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
MICHAEL WAYNE CASTEEN,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Fox, Senior
District Judge. (7:05-cr-00029-F-2)
Submitted: May 18, 2016 Decided: May 20, 2016
Before SHEDD, DIAZ, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Thomas P. McNamara, Federal Public Defender, Eric J. Brignac,
Assistant Federal Public Defender, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
Appellant. John Stuart Bruce, Acting United States Attorney,
Jennifer P. May-Parker, Kristine L. Fritz, Assistant United
States Attorneys, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Michael Casteen appeals the district court’s order imposing
a 60–month prison sentence upon revoking his supervised release.
On appeal, he claims that his sentence to the statutory maximum
is substantively plainly unreasonable because it was greater
than necessary to satisfy the purposes of sentencing. We
affirm.
We will not disturb a district court’s revocation sentence
unless it falls outside the statutory maximum or is otherwise
“plainly unreasonable.” United States v. Padgett,
788 F.3d 370,
373 (4th Cir.) (citing United States v. Crudup,
461 F.3d 433,
437 (4th Cir.2006)), cert. denied, __ U.S. __,
136 S. Ct. 494
(2015). Only if the revocation sentence is unreasonable must we
assess whether it is plainly so.
Id. (citing United States v.
Moulden,
478 F.3d 652, 656 (4th Cir.2007)). “In determining
whether a revocation sentence is unreasonable,” we are informed
by the same procedural and substantive considerations that guide
our review of original sentences but “we strike a more
deferential appellate posture.”
Id. (citations and internal
quotation marks omitted).
A district court “retains broad discretion to ... impose a
term of imprisonment up to the statutory maximum.”
Id.
(citations and internal quotation marks omitted). In exercising
such discretion, the district court “is guided by the Chapter
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Seven policy statements in the federal Guidelines manual, as
well as the statutory factors applicable to revocation sentences
under 18 U.S.C. §§ 3553(a), 3583(e).” United States v. Webb,
738 F.3d 638, 641 (4th Cir. 2013). “Chapter Seven instructs
that, in fashioning a revocation sentence, ‘the court should
sanction primarily the defendant’s breach of trust, while taking
into account, to a limited degree, the seriousness of the
underlying violation and the criminal history of the violator.’”
Id. (quoting U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual ch. 7, pt.
A(3)(b) (2012)).
“Although § 3583(e) enumerates the factors a district court
should consider when formulating a revocation sentence, it does
not expressly prohibit a court from referencing other relevant
factors omitted from the statute.”
Id. Moreover, “the factors
listed in § 3553(a)(2)(A) are intertwined with the factors
courts are expressly authorized to consider under § 3583(e).”
Id. (citations omitted). Thus, “although a district court may
not impose a revocation sentence based predominately on the
seriousness of the releasee’s violation or the need for the
sentence to promote respect for the law and provide just
punishment . . . mere reference to such considerations does not
render a revocation sentence procedurally unreasonable when
those factors are relevant to, and considered in conjunction
with, the enumerated § 3553(a) factors.”
Id. at 642 (citation
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omitted); see USSG ch. 7, pt. A(3)(B) (punishing new criminal
conduct is not “the primary goal of a revocation sentence,” but
the “nature of the conduct leading to the revocation [is]
considered in measuring the extent of the breach of trust”).
Here, the district court properly considered the Chapter 7
policy statements as well as the relevant § 3553(a) factors.
The court also appropriately considered Casteen’s admitted
struggles with substance abuse. On these facts, we cannot say
that the sentence imposed was substantively plainly
unreasonable. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s
order. We 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
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