FISHER, Circuit Judge.
This appeal asks whether 18 U.S.C. § 3582(a), which forbids a district court from imposing a term of imprisonment at initial sentencing for the purpose of drug rehabilitation, restricts a district court from considering medical and rehabilitative needs when revoking a defendant's supervised release and requiring the defendant to serve the remainder of his sentence in prison. The District Court sentenced the defendant, John Doe, to 24 months of imprisonment upon revocation of his supervised release with the objective of helping him recover from his cocaine addiction. On appeal, Doe challenges the procedural and substantive reasonableness of that sentence. Because we hold that the plain language of § 3583(e) governing discretionary revocation of supervised release expressly requires consideration of medical needs, we will affirm.
Doe
While on supervised release, Doe enrolled in the Tri-State Business Institute's Academy of Cosmetology to learn to be a barber. In a letter to Doe's probation officer, a school administrator described Doe as "a great student" who was "very dedicated" and had made the Dean's list. (Sealed App. 36.) Throughout his supervised release, Doe kept his appointments with his probation officer and participated in a mental health treatment program for his drug addiction.
Despite these positive efforts, Doe was not successful in refraining from the use of cocaine. On February 27, April 7, and April 10 of 2008, Doe submitted urine samples to his probation officer that tested positive for cocaine. In an effort to aid his rehabilitation, Doe was offered the option to waive a hearing on these violations in exchange for modification of the terms of his supervised release. He accepted this waiver, and his release was modified to include 180 days of home confinement with electronic monitoring and participation in a mental health treatment program approved by the probation officer.
The new conditions did not, however, have any substantial effect on Doe's cocaine use. On May 12, May 19, and June 3 of 2008, Doe again submitted urine samples that tested positive for cocaine. On July 2, 2008, Doe's probation officer filed a petition on supervised release in the District Court noting that Doe had submitted six cocaine-positive urine samples since the beginning of his supervised release. At the request of the probation officer, the District Court entered an order on July 7, 2008, modifying Doe's supervised release to again include 180 days of home confinement with electronic monitoring and participation in a mental health treatment program approved by the probation officer.
Again, the modifications did not deter Doe from his drug use. On November 4, 2008, Doe's probation officer filed a second petition on supervised release, noting Doe had submitted six more urine samples that tested positive for cocaine: July 8, September 30, October 3, October 7, October 14, and October 21 of 2008. The petition catalogs the utter failure of Doe's rehabilitative efforts:
At the show cause hearing, Doe requested one more opportunity to comply with the terms of his supervised release. The government agreed, on the condition that "this is his last chance." (Sealed App. 39.) On November 24, 2008, the District Court revoked Doe's supervised release and imposed a new term of supervised release of 36 months, and placed him on electronic monitoring for six months, to run consecutively with his ongoing term of monitoring from the prior modification. (Id. at 40.)
Doe's "last chance" proved to be another failure. On May 6, 2009, Doe's probation officer filed a third petition on supervised release based on two more urine samples that tested positive for cocaine and Doe's admission on April 13, 2009, that he had used cocaine during the preceding weekend. The District Court again convened a show cause hearing at which Doe admitted the violations. At sentencing, the government initially argued that Doe was making "a laughing stock of our supervised release system" and that he should serve 36 months incarceration with no supervised release. (Id. at 46-47). Doe's counsel suggested a sentencing range of 4 to 10 months, or in any event no greater than 18 months, of incarceration followed by additional supervised release.
The District Court then revoked Doe's supervised release and imposed a sentence of 24 months of incarceration. In doing so, the judge explained:
(Id. at 53.) Doe objected to this reasoning, noting "[t]here is Third Circuit case law that I believe stands for the proposition that you can't incarcerate someone for treatment purposes." (Id.)
The government then modified its request and asked that 12 months supervised release be imposed following the 24 months of incarceration and that the judge make "clear that you are not sentencing him for the purpose of keeping him clean, but in response to the violations which he committed[.]" (Id. at 55.) The District Court modified the sentence to include supervised release but did not substantially retreat from its rationale for the sentence, responding, "I can't say no because the sentence is certainly intended for, in part to keep him clean. But again, he wouldn't be here [] if he hadn't violated the law. So, for that dual reason, we are imposing sentence." (Id. at 55-56.) The District Court then imposed a 24 month sentence of imprisonment followed by 12 months of supervised release. This timely appeal followed.
This Court reviews the procedural and substantive reasonableness of a district court's sentence upon revocation of supervised release for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Bungar, 478 F.3d 540, 542 (3d Cir.2007). Procedurally, the sentencing court must give "rational and meaningful consideration" to the relevant § 3553(a) factors. United States v. Grier, 475 F.3d 556, 571 (3d Cir.2007) (en banc). Where procedural reasonableness turns on
Doe's claims of procedural and substantive unreasonableness stem from essentially the same contention—that the District Court erred by considering Doe's need for drug rehabilitation in setting the length of his post-revocation imprisonment. We will address his arguments in turn.
Doe contends that his sentence is procedurally unreasonable because the District Court is forbidden under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(a), 28 U.S.C. § 994(k), and our holding in United States v. Manzella, 475 F.3d 152 (3d Cir.2007), from considering his need for drug rehabilitation in imposing a post-revocation term of imprisonment. Because we hold that the plain language and operation of the statute governing post-revocation sentencing, 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e) and (g), permits a district court to consider medical and rehabilitative needs in imposing a term of post-revocation imprisonment, we will affirm the sentence as procedurally reasonable.
This case turns on certain pivotal distinctions between the statutes governing post-conviction sentencing and those governing post-revocation sentencing. During post-conviction sentencing, the district court sets both the term of imprisonment and the subsequent period, if any, of supervised release. 18 U.S.C. §§ 3581(a), 3583(a). The district court is directed to consider a variety of factors in imposing an appropriate post-conviction sentence, including "the need ... to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner." Id. § 3553(a)(2)(D). However, post-conviction imprisonment is also limited by 18 U.S.C. § 3582(a), under which sentencing courts are instructed:
(emphasis added).
In Manzella, we were asked to resolve the apparent conflict between a district court's obligation to consider medical and
The government concedes that, if this had been Doe's initial sentencing hearing, the sentence would be unquestionably flawed under Manzella. (See Govt. Br. 15 (noting that, if Manzella applied to these facts, "it is unlikely that any argument could overcome the District Court's statements of Doe's need for rehabilitation").)
Section 3583(g), on the other hand, governs mandatory revocation in the event the defendant commits one of the specified offenses, including possession of a controlled substance or failing a drug test more than three times in one year. 18 U.S.C. § 3583(g)(1), (4). In such case, "the court shall revoke the term of supervised release and require the defendant to serve a term of imprisonment not to exceed the maximum term of imprisonment authorized [by statute for the underlying offense]." Id. While § 3583(g) does not expressly require consideration of the § 3553(a) factors, it does not prohibit the sentencing court from doing so.
Although we are confident that Doe's repeated failure of drug tests qualified him for mandatory revocation under § 3583(g), it appears that the District Court proceeded under its discretionary authority pursuant to § 3583(e)(3).
We are not the first court to confront this question. In United States v. Anderson, 15 F.3d 278 (2d Cir.1994), the Second Circuit was faced with a district court's revocation of supervised release under § 3583(e) and imposition of a 17 month period of imprisonment based on the district court's view that the defendant required "intensive substance abuse and psychological treatment in a structured environment." Id. at 279. As here, the defendant claimed that this consideration
Id. at 282 (citations omitted).
The Eleventh Circuit in United States v. Brown, 224 F.3d 1237, 1240 (11th Cir. 2000), reached the same conclusion. The court affirmed a post-revocation sentence of 24 months imposed for the purpose of qualifying the defendant for the Bureau of Prisons residential drug treatment program, holding, "a court may consider a defendant's rehabilitative needs when imposing a specific incarcerative term following revocation of supervised release." Id. The court based its conclusion on the plain language and operation of § 3583(e)(3):
Id. at 1242 (quoting Anderson, 15 F.3d at 283).
Our reading of § 3583(e), and the deft analysis of our fellow courts of appeals, leads us to the same conclusion: Congress intended district courts to consider a defendant's medical and rehabilitative needs in determining whether to revoke supervised release and the duration of imprisonment that is appropriate upon revocation.
Accordingly, we hold that the District Court did not err in setting the duration of Doe's post-revocation incarceration based, in part, on his need for drug rehabilitation. The sentence was therefore procedurally reasonable.
Although Doe principally relies on his statutory argument in challenging his post-revocation sentence, he also argues that the 24 months post-revocation incarceration and 12 months supervised release is "wildly disproportionate" and "excessive," and therefore substantively unreasonable. (Doe Br. 17.) Our review for substantive reasonableness is "highly deferential," Bungar, 478 F.3d at 543, and Doe bears the burden of demonstrating that "no reasonable sentencing court would have imposed the same sentence on [him] for the reasons the district court provided." Tomko, 562 F.3d at 568. He has failed to meet that burden here, and we will affirm the District Court's sentence as substantively reasonable.
The District Court imposed Doe's post-revocation sentence of 24 months of incarceration and 12 months of supervised release based on two principal justifications: Doe's repeated violations of the terms of his supervised release, and Doe's need for drug rehabilitation. These justifications are a reasonable application of the relevant § 3553(a) factors to the particular facts of this case. As discussed above, § 3583(e) requires consideration of the defendant's need for "medical care, or other correctional treatment." 18 U.S.C. §§ 3583(c), 3553(a)(2)(D). Doe's repeated violations of his supervised release, his admitted abuse of controlled substances, and his demonstrated inability to rehabilitate himself through outpatient drug treatment led the District Court to reasonably conclude that Doe needed to be kept out of reach of the instruments of his addiction.
Finally, we reject Doe's argument that the sentence itself is "excessive." As the District Court acknowledged, the advisory Guidelines range for Doe's post-revocation imprisonment was 4 to 10 months based on his criminal history category of II and a Grade C violation. U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4(a). However, the Guidelines provide that "[w]here the original sentence was the result of a downward departure (e.g. as a reward for substantial assistance) ... an upward departure may be warranted." U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4, cmt. n. 4. Here, Doe's Guidelines range sentence of 60 to 65 months was initially reduced to 30 months for cooperation with the government and then further reduced to 12 months, which amounted to time served. His 24 month post-revocation imprisonment was thus reasonable in light of the earlier leniency he received. The addition of 12 months of supervised release upon the conclusion of Doe's imprisonment brings his post-revocation sentence to the statutory maximum of three years. See 18 U.S.C. § 3583(b)(2) (limiting supervised release for Class C felonies to three years). Given the egregiousness of Doe's violations, we cannot say that no reasonable court would impose the statutory maximum.
We therefore reject Doe's challenge based on substantive reasonableness, and we will affirm the District Court's sentence.
For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm the District Court's revocation of Doe's supervised release and imposition of a 24 month term of imprisonment followed by a 12 month term of supervised release.