Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca4-06-04342/USCOURTS-ca4-06-04342-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Landis Lamar Jackson
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 06-4342

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

LANDIS LAMAR JACKSON,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle

District of North Carolina, at Durham. James A. Beaty, Jr., Chief

District Judge. (1:05-cr-00143-JAB)

Submitted: February 21, 2008 Decided: February 26, 2008

Before MICHAEL and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and Irene M. KEELEY, Chief

United States District Judge for the Northern District of West

Virginia, sitting by designation.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Scott L. Wilkinson, SCOTT L. WILKINSON & ASSOCIATES, PC, Raleigh,

North Carolina, for Appellant. Anna Mills Wagoner, United States

Attorney, Lisa B. Boggs, Assistant United States Attorney,

Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. 

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*

See N.C.G.S. § 90-95(a)(3).

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PER CURIAM:

Landis Lamar Jackson pled guilty to being a felon in

possession of a weapon. The district court increased Jackson’s

offense level by four, under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual

§ 2K2.1(b)(5) (2005), because it found that he possessed the gun in

connection another felony--here, distribution of cocaine. On

appeal, Jackson alleges that this enhancement was error. For the

reasons that follow, we affirm.

We review a district court’s findings at sentencing for

clear error and its legal determinations de novo. United States v.

Daughtrey, 874 F.2d 213, 217-18 (4th Cir. 1989). Jackson argues

that the district court clearly erred by finding that the

Government proved by a preponderance of the evidence, see United

States v. Garnett, 243 F.3d 824, 828 (4th Cir. 2001) (providing

standard), that his possession of the weapon was related to his

felony possession of crack cocaine. While the district court’s

finding that the cocaine and small amount of cash found on Jackson

revealed he was distributing the drug may be clearly erroneous, we

find that Jackson’s admitted possession of cocaine, a felony under

North Carolina law,* was sufficiently connected to his gun

possession to support the enhancement. United States v. Regans,

125 F.3d 685, 686-87 (8th Cir. 1997). We may affirm a sentence

enhancement “on the basis of ‘any conduct [in the record] that

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independently and properly should result in an increase in the

offense level’ by virtue of the enhancement.” United States v.

Garnett, 243 F.3d 824, 830 (4th Cir. 2001) (quoting United

States v. Ashers, 968 F.2d 411, 414 (4th Cir. 1992)).

Accordingly, we affirm. We dispense with oral argument

because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in

the materials before the court and argument would not aid the

decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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