Filed: Feb. 25, 2019
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 18-4393 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. RAJAE JAMELL HARRIS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:17-cr-00326-WO-1) Submitted: February 21, 2019 Decided: February 25, 2019 Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and AGEE and DIAZ, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 18-4393 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. RAJAE JAMELL HARRIS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:17-cr-00326-WO-1) Submitted: February 21, 2019 Decided: February 25, 2019 Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and AGEE and DIAZ, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. ..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 18-4393
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
RAJAE JAMELL HARRIS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at
Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:17-cr-00326-WO-1)
Submitted: February 21, 2019 Decided: February 25, 2019
Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and AGEE and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Louis C. Allen, Federal Public Defender, Kathleen A. Gleason, Assistant Federal Public
Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Greensboro, North
Carolina, for Appellant. Terry Michael Meinecke, Assistant United States Attorney,
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Greensboro, North Carolina, for
Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Rajae Jamell Harris appeals his conviction and 120-month sentence, imposed after
his guilty plea, pursuant to a plea agreement, to possession with intent to distribute
cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) (2012). Harris’ attorney has
filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California,
386 U.S. 738 (1967), stating that there are
no meritorious issues for appeal, but questioning whether Harris’ sentence is
substantively reasonable. Harris was advised of his right to file a pro se supplemental
brief, but did not file a brief. We affirm.
We review Harris’ sentence for both procedural and substantive reasonableness
“under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.” Gall v. United States,
552 U.S. 38, 41
(2007). We “first ensure that the district court committed no significant procedural error,
such as failing to calculate (or improperly calculating) the [Sentencing] Guidelines range,
. . . failing to consider the [18 U.S.C] § 3553(a) factors, . . . or failing to adequately
explain the chosen sentence.”
Id. at 51; see 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2012). If there is no
significant procedural error, we then consider the sentence’s substantive reasonableness
“tak[ing] into account the totality of the circumstances, including the extent of any
variance from the Guidelines range.”
Gall, 552 U.S. at 51. We presume that a sentence
within or below a properly calculated Guidelines range is reasonable, and a defendant can
rebut this presumption only “by showing that the sentence is unreasonable when
measured against the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors.” United States v. Louthian,
756 F.3d
295, 306 (4th Cir. 2014).
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Having carefully reviewed the record, we conclude that the district court did not
abuse its discretion in the imposition of Harris’ sentence. The district court properly
calculated the advisory Sentencing Guidelines range and sufficiently explained its
reasons for imposing the sentence Harris received. Furthermore, Harris has not made the
showing necessary to rebut the presumption of reasonableness that we afford his below-
Guidelines range sentence.
In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the entire record in this case and
have found no meritorious issues for appeal. We therefore affirm Harris’ conviction and
sentence. This court requires that counsel inform Harris, in writing, of the right to
petition the Supreme Court of the United States for further review. If Harris requests that
a petition be filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then
counsel may move in this court for leave to withdraw from representation. Counsel’s
motion must state that a copy thereof was served on Harris.
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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