SHEPHERD, Circuit Judge.
Nathan Melton was convicted in 2008 of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344. His sentence was subsequently reduced and he was placed on supervised release, but his supervised release has been twice revoked. He appeals the second revocation of his supervised
In December 2008, appellant Nathan Melton pled guilty to one count of bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344. He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with 5 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $9,588 in restitution jointly and severally with other defendants. In February 2010, the district court reduced Melton's sentence to time served for his assistance in a government investigation pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35(b), and Melton began his supervised release. Melton's conditions of supervised release required him to reside in a residential reentry center for 120 days after his release from prison and specified that he must follow all rules and regulations of the reentry center. The court revoked Melton's supervised release in June 2010 for his failure to comply with the reentry center's rules, failure to seek employment, and failure to participate in substance abuse treatment. The court again sentenced Melton to six months imprisonment, with supervised release, including a condition that he reside in a residential reentry center for 120 days upon his release.
Melton was released on December 13, 2010, and again began his residential reentry program at the same center where he resided during his first release. On April 4, 2011, Melton's supervised release was revoked for a second time. At the hearing to revoke his supervised release, Melton admitted to violating several of the rules of the reentry center, including: refusing to obey house rules governing when he could
Based on these admissions, the district court again revoked Melton's supervised release and sentenced him to six months imprisonment, with a term of supervised release and a special condition that he reside in a residential reentry center upon release for 120 days. Melton appeals this revocation and the imposition of the special condition of supervised release.
We review a district court's decision to revoke a defendant's supervised release for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Rhone, 647 F.3d 777, 779 (8th Cir.2011).
Melton admitted to ten violations of his supervised release; however, he argues his violations were merely technical. Melton bases his technicality argument on this court's opinion in United States v. Reed, 573 F.2d 1020 (8th Cir.1978). In Reed, we stated that a court's "decision to revoke probation should not merely be a reflexive reaction to an accumulation of technical violations of the conditions imposed upon the offender." Id. at 1024.
However, we have held that violations similar to Melton's are not merely technical. In United States v. Burkhalter, 588 F.2d 604 (8th Cir.1978), we found a defendant's tardiness and absences from a vocational training program coupled with his violation of a residential reentry center's rules were sufficient to support the revocation of his supervised release. Burkhalter, 588 F.2d at 606-07. In responding to Reed, we noted, "[a]lthough appellant['s]... violations are not particularly serious in terms of their danger to society, his behavior indicates a pervasive unwillingness to follow the rehabilitation program." Id.
In this case, the district court noted that Melton's violations were Grade C violations. The sentencing guidelines give district courts discretion as to whether to revoke a defendant's sentence for Grade C violations. See United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual, § 7B1.3(a)(2). The district court found revocation of Melton's sentence was appropriate stating:
The district court did not make a "reflexive reaction to an accumulation of technical violations" like the one we condemned in Reed but instead made a reasoned finding that Melton's repeated actions indicated a stubborn unwillingness to comply with the conditions of his supervised release. Pursuant to our opinion in Burkhalter, actions indicating such a persistent and "pervasive unwillingness" to comply with court orders and the orders of a reentry center are not technical violations and may warrant the revocation of a supervised release.
Further, Melton's violations were not limited to violating the reentry center's rules and disobeying the center's staff. Melton violated two additional conditions of his supervised release: the first required
Melton admitted to violating ten conditions of his supervised release. Those violations placed the revocation of Melton's supervised release within the sound discretion of the district court. We find the district court did not abuse its discretion in revoking Melton's supervised release.
Melton also argues that the court erred in imposing a special condition of supervised release that will require him to go back to the same residential reentry center for a third time upon his release. Melton argues he is clearly not a good candidate for the reentry center because he has failed there twice and because his sentence of only six months imprisonment is not lengthy enough to require reentry training. Melton did not object to this condition of supervised release at sentencing.
Where a defendant does not object to a special condition of supervised release at sentencing, we review the court's imposition of the condition for plain error. United States v. Curry, 627 F.3d 312, 314 (8th Cir.2010) (per curiam). Under plain error review, "[w]e will reverse only if [the defendant] shows that the district court committed an error that was plain, that affected his substantial rights, and that seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings." United States v. Garcia, 646 F.3d 1061, 1068-69 (8th Cir.2011).
"The district court is afforded wide discretion in imposing conditions on a defendant's supervised release so long as they meet the requirements of 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d)." United States v. Boston, 494 F.3d 660, 667 (8th Cir.2007). Section 3583(d) requires that the conditions of supervised release be "reasonably related" to the factors listed in 18 U.S.C. §§ 3553(a)(1) and (a)(2)(B)-(D).
Requiring a defendant to temporarily reside at a residential reentry center as a condition of supervised release is a tool expressly authorized by statute and by the Sentencing Guidelines. See 18 U.S.C. § 3563(b)(11); USSG § 5B1.3(e)(1); United States v. McFarlin, 535 F.3d 808, 811-12 (8th Cir.2008). Additionally, we have regularly upheld the requirement of a term in a residential reentry center as a reasonable condition of supervised release. See, e.g., United States v. Vanhorn, 641 F.3d 296, 297 (8th Cir.2011).
In ordering Melton to reside in a residential reentry center as a condition of his supervised release, the district court followed the procedure set forth in section 3583 for imposing conditions of supervised release. The court expressly stated that it had considered the section 3553 factors in entering the sentence and addressed the defendant's history and characteristics during the revocation hearing. After it considered the factors as required by section 3583(d), requiring Melton to reside in a residential reentry center as a condition of supervised release was within the discretion of the court. Melton has not cited any cases that indicate that a court errs by entering a special condition of release that requires a defendant to reside in a residential reentry center merely because he has failed to succeed there in the past.
For these reasons, we find the court did not plainly err when it ordered Melton to reside in the residential reentry center for a third time.
We affirm the revocation of Melton's supervised release and the court's entry of a special condition of supervised release requiring Melton to reside in a residential reentry center for 120 days after his release.