Filed: Sep. 28, 2020
Latest Update: Sep. 28, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 20-4189 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. CHRISTOPHER NAQUAN FRENCH, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:19-cr-00444-1) Submitted: September 24, 2020 Decided: September 28, 2020 Before HARRIS and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublish
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 20-4189 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. CHRISTOPHER NAQUAN FRENCH, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:19-cr-00444-1) Submitted: September 24, 2020 Decided: September 28, 2020 Before HARRIS and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublishe..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 20-4189
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
CHRISTOPHER NAQUAN FRENCH,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at
Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:19-cr-00444-1)
Submitted: September 24, 2020 Decided: September 28, 2020
Before HARRIS and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit
Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Carlyle Sherrill, SHERRILL & CAMERON, PLLC, Salisbury, North Carolina, for
Appellant. Tanner Lawrence Kroeger, 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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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:
Christopher Naquan French pled guilty to felon in possession of a firearm, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2). The district court sentenced him to 100
months of imprisonment, the low end of the advisory Sentencing Guidelines range. French
appealed. French’s counsel 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 the
reasonableness of French’s sentence. French was advised of his right to file a pro se
supplemental brief, but he did not file one. The Government has declined to file a response
brief. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
We review French’s sentence for reasonableness, applying “a deferential abuse-of-
discretion standard.” Gall v. United States,
552 U.S. 38, 41 (2007). We first ensure that
the court “committed no significant procedural error,” such as improperly calculating the
Guidelines range, failing to consider the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors, or inadequately
explaining the sentence. United States v. Lynn,
592 F.3d 572, 575 (4th Cir. 2010) (internal
quotation marks omitted). If we find the sentence procedurally reasonable, we also review
its substantive reasonableness under “the totality of the circumstances.”
Gall, 552 U.S. at
51. We presume that a within-Guidelines sentence is substantively reasonable. United
States v. Louthian,
756 F.3d 295, 306 (4th Cir. 2014). French bears the burden to rebut
this presumption “by showing that the sentence is unreasonable when measured against the
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors.”
Id.
Our review of the record convinces us that French’s sentence is reasonable. The
court properly calculated the applicable advisory Guidelines range, considered the parties’
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sentencing arguments, and provided a reasoned explanation for the sentence it imposed,
grounded in § 3553(a) factors. French fails to rebut the presumption of substantive
reasonableness accorded his within-Guidelines 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 the district court’s judgment.
This court requires that counsel inform French, in writing, of the right to petition the
Supreme Court of the United States for further review. If French 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 French. 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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