Filed: Jul. 13, 2007
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: , F. Mark Terison, Senior Litigation Counsel, and Paula D., Silsby, United States Attorney, on brief for appellee.in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.United States v. Turbides-Leonardo, 468 F.3d 34, 40 (1st Cir.rejected the government's recommendation of a 96-month sentence.
Not for Publication in West's Federal Reporter
United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 06-1279
UNITED STATES,
Appellee,
v.
DARRELL DOLLIVER,
Defendant, Appellant.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE
[Hon. John A. Woodcock, Jr., U.S. District Judge]
Before
Boudin, Chief Judge,
Torruella and Lipez, Circuit Judges.
Richard N. Foley on brief for appellant.
F. Mark Terison, Senior Litigation Counsel, and Paula D.
Silsby, United States Attorney, on brief for appellee.
July 13, 2007
Per Curiam. After a thorough review of the record and
of the parties' submissions, we affirm.
Appellant Darrell Dolliver ("Dolliver") challenges the
sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction under 18
U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i). His arguments do not acknowledge that he
was convicted of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug
trafficking crime, rather than use of a firearm during and in
relation to a drug-trafficking crime, and he does not present any
authority suggesting that his behavior here -- the bartering of
drugs for firearms -- falls outside the reach of that statute as
amended by Congress in 1998. Cf. United States v. Luke-Sanchez,
483 F.3d 703, 706 (10th Cir. 2007) (holding that trading drugs for
guns constitutes possession in furtherance of a drug trafficking
crime under subsection 924(c)(1)); United States v. Boyd, 209 Fed.
Appx. 285, 290 (4th Cir. 2006) ("We conclude that accepting
possession of firearms as payment for crack cocaine is possession
in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime."); United States v.
Frederick,
406 F.3d 754 (6th Cir. 2005) ("As a matter of logic, a
defendant's willingness to accept possession of a gun as
consideration for some drugs he wishes to sell does promote or
facilitate that illegal sale."); United States v. Cox,
324 F.3d 77,
84 n. 2 (2d Cir. 2003) ("For defendants charged under § 924(c)
after [the 1998] amendment, trading drugs for guns will probably
result in [a conviction for possession in furtherance of a drug
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trafficking crime.]"). Given Dolliver's failure to present any
argument in contravention of this growing consensus, we see no
reason to set aside his conviction.
Dolliver next contends that the district court failed to
consider the factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) when setting his
sentence. On the contrary, the court stated that it had considered
those factors, and in explaining its sentence to Dolliver, it
emphasized two of those factors: the nature of the offenses in
question, and the need to protect the public. See 18 U.S.C. §§
3553(a)(1) & (b)(2)(C). The court was not required explicitly to
address all of the other factors in subsection 3553(a). "While the
court ordinarily should identify the main factors upon which it
relies, its statement need not be either lengthy or detailed."
United States v. Turbides-Leonardo,
468 F.3d 34, 40 (1st Cir.
2006), cert. denied, No. 06-9416,
2007 WL 469935 (June 29, 2007)
(citing United States v. Navedo-Concepcion,
450 F.3d 54, 58 (1st
Cir. 2006)). Here, the court stated that while it was not
accepting the government's recommendation that his sentence be 12
months above the bottom of the range, it was imposing a sentence
six months above the bottom of the range in recognition of the fact
that Dolliver had pled guilty not only to a firearms offense but to
a drug offense as well, and that the drug in question -- heroin --
was one of "the most addictive and hardest drugs known to man."
The court's explanation was sufficient.
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Finally, Dolliver argues that in setting his sentence,
the court improperly relied upon the information in a
psychiatrist's report prepared prior to his guilty plea and bench
trial. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 12.2(c)(4). On the contrary, the
court rejected the government's suggestion that the court use the
admissions in that report. In announcing its sentence, the court
was careful to state that while it was clear Dolliver had engaged
in drug dealing, "the extent of [the evidence of] that illegal
conduct, however, is not compelling," and for this reason, it
rejected the government's recommendation of a 96-month sentence.
The court may have relied on the statement in the Pre-
Sentence Report ("PSR") that Dolliver had a "30-bag-a-day" heroin
habit (a fact from which the court might have inferred that
Dolliver sold a substantial amount of drugs in order to support his
habit), and it appears this statement was taken by the probation
officer from the psychiatrist's report. But, Dolliver told the
court at sentencing that it had no objection to the contents of the
PSR, so it seems he has waived any challenge to inclusion of this
statement in the PSR. See
Turbides-Leondardo, 468 F.3d at 38.
Even if Dolliver's acquiescence did not constitute a waiver, it
certainly amounted to a forfeiture, and we would review only for
plain error. See
id. We see no plain error requiring reversal.
It is far from clear that the district court relied on the
statement at sentencing -- it did, after all, acknowledge that the
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evidence of the extent of his drug-dealing was "not compelling" --
so Dolliver has not shown that inclusion of the statement in the
PSR affected his substantial rights or seriously impaired the
fairness of these proceedings. See United States v. Olano,
507
U.S. 725, 732 (1993).
Affirmed. See 1st Cir. R. 27.0(c).
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