Filed: May 14, 2019
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 17-4781 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. RAMEIK DESEN ANDERSON, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Greenville. Malcolm J. Howard, Senior District Judge. (4:17-cr-00032-H-1) Submitted: April 30, 2019 Decided: May 14, 2019 Before MOTZ and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Vacated and remanded by unpubl
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 17-4781 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. RAMEIK DESEN ANDERSON, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Greenville. Malcolm J. Howard, Senior District Judge. (4:17-cr-00032-H-1) Submitted: April 30, 2019 Decided: May 14, 2019 Before MOTZ and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Vacated and remanded by unpubli..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 17-4781
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
RAMEIK DESEN ANDERSON,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at
Greenville. Malcolm J. Howard, Senior District Judge. (4:17-cr-00032-H-1)
Submitted: April 30, 2019 Decided: May 14, 2019
Before MOTZ and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit
Judge.
Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Louis C. Allen, Acting Federal Public Defender, Stephen C. Gordon, Assistant Federal
Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Raleigh, North
Carolina, for Appellant. Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney, Jennifer P. May-
Parker, Assistant United States Attorney, Donald R. Pender, Assistant United States
Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Rameik Desen Anderson appeals his sentence of 96 months of imprisonment for
possession of firearms and ammunition by a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1),
924(a)(2) (2012). He contends that the district court committed procedural error by failing
to apply U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 5G1.3(c) (2016). This case was placed in
abeyance for United States v. Lynn,
912 F.3d 212 (4th Cir. 2019). Lynn has issued, and this
case is now ripe for review. For the reasons that follow, we vacate and remand for
resentencing.
“We ‘review all sentences—whether inside, just outside, or significantly outside the
[Sentencing] Guidelines range—under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.’”
United States v. Blue,
877 F.3d 513, 517 (4th Cir. 2017) (quoting Gall v. United States,
552
U.S. 38, 41 (2007)). This review entails appellate consideration of both the procedural and
substantive reasonableness of the sentence.
Gall, 552 U.S. at 51. In determining
procedural reasonableness, we must consider whether the district court properly calculated
the Guidelines range, treated the Guidelines as advisory rather than mandatory, gave the
parties an opportunity to argue for an appropriate sentence, considered the 18 U.S.C.
§ 3553(a) (2012) factors, selected a sentence not based on clearly erroneous facts, and
sufficiently explained the chosen sentence.
Id. at 49-51. “A district court abuses its
discretion when it acts arbitrarily or irrationally, fails to consider judicially recognized
factors constraining its exercise of discretion, relies on erroneous factual or legal premises,
or commits an error of law.” United States v. Dillard,
891 F.3d 151, 158 (4th Cir. 2018)
(internal quotation marks omitted). In particular, “a district court abuses its discretion when
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it misapprehends or misapplies the applicable law.” Wicomico Nursing Home v. Padilla,
910 F.3d 739, 750 (4th Cir. 2018) (brackets and internal quotation marks omitted).
Under the Sentencing Guidelines,
If . . . a state term of imprisonment is anticipated to result from another
offense that is relevant conduct to the instant offense of conviction under the
provisions of subsections (a)(1), (a)(2), or (a)(3) of § 1B1.3 (Relevant
Conduct), the sentence for the instant offense shall be imposed to run
concurrently to the anticipated term of imprisonment.
USSG § 5G1.3(c). However, “because the Guidelines are advisory, a district court is not
obligated to impose a concurrent sentence pursuant to USSG § 5G1.3.”
Lynn, 912 F.3d at
217. Instead, a court is only “required to consider the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors in
determining whether to run sentences consecutively or concurrently.”
Id.
Based on our review of the record, the district court did not address USSG
§ 5G1.3(c)’s direction that it impose a sentence concurrently with an anticipated state
sentence. We conclude that the court’s lack of consideration regarding USSG § 5G1.3(c)
constitutes an abuse of discretion, as a court cannot properly exercise its discretion if it is
not aware of the contours of its discretion. See
Dillard, 891 F.3d at 158. Although the
district court was free to reject the Guidelines, it was required to at least consider the
Guidelines. See
Lynn, 912 F.3d at 215. The record here does not reveal any consideration
of USSG § 5G1.3(c) by the district court.
Ultimately, the requirement that a sentence be procedurally reasonable not only
“promote[s] the perception of fair sentencing,” but also ensures that a reviewing court can
provide “meaningful appellate review” of the sentence.
Gall, 552 U.S. at 50. Because the
record does not show that the district court considered USSG § 5G1.3(c), we vacate the
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judgment and remand for resentencing. We express no opinion as to whether the district
court should accept or reject application of USSG § 5G1.3(c) to Anderson’s case. 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.
VACATED AND REMANDED
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