Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-15-03548/USCOURTS-ca8-15-03548-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Kenneth L. Irby
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

For the Eighth Circuit

___________________________

No. 15-3548

___________________________

United States of America

lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

Kenneth L. Irby

lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant

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Appeal from United States District Court 

for the Eastern District of Missouri - Cape Girardeau

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 Submitted: April 15, 2016

 Filed: August 1, 2016

[Unpublished]

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Before RILEY, Chief Judge, WOLLMAN and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM.

Appellate Case: 15-3548 Page: 1 Date Filed: 08/01/2016 Entry ID: 4432318 
Kenneth L. Irby pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, in

violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). He appeals from the 120-month

sentence imposed by the district court. We affirm. 1

On March 13, 2014, Irby was riding in a truck when law enforcement officers

tried to initiate a traffic stop. The officers had reason to believe that the owner of the

truck was engaged in the trafficking of a drug known as bath salts. Officers observed

Irby push the driver out of the driver’s side door of the truck. Irby then led the

officers on a high-speed chase, during which he fired a .12-gauge shotgun several

times in the direction of the officers’ vehicle, one round of which struck the hood of

the squad car. Irby drove the truck in excess of seventy miles per hour through a

residential area, crossing several residents’ yards. He caused the truck to become

airborne on at least three occasions, and recklessly sped through at least thirteen

intersections. Eventually, Irby crashed the truck into a fence and escaped on foot,

leaving the shotgun in the truck, along with three shell casings.

Early the following morning, officers learned that Irby was armed with a

handgun and hiding in the crawl space under a friend’s home. Officers obtained a

search warrant for the home and eventually retrieved Irby and the handgun. 

Investigators later obtained a photograph taken earlier that month, which depicted

Irby holding the shotgun that he had used during the high-speed chase.

Irby was charged with three counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

He entered into a plea agreement under which he pleaded guilty to one of the

possession counts, and the government moved to dismiss the remaining counts. The

district court accepted Irby’s guilty plea and dismissed the remaining counts.

The Honorable Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr., United States DistrictJudge for the

1

Eastern District of Missouri.

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Appellate Case: 15-3548 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/01/2016 Entry ID: 4432318 
The presentence investigation report (PSR) calculated a base offense level of

14 and recommended a 4-level increase for using the firearm in connection with

assaulting a law enforcement officer, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual (U.S.S.G.

or Guidelines) § 2K2.1(b)(6)(B), and a 2-level increase for obstruction of justice,

§ 3C1.2. The PSR also recommended a 3-level decrease to reflect Irby’s acceptance

of responsibility, § 3E1.1(a)-(b), which resulted in a total offense level of 17.

The PSR calculated a criminal history category of VI. Irby’s criminal history

included convictions for possession of a controlled substance and stealing a car in

1995; first-degree tampering (unlawfully operating a vehicle without the owner’s

consent) and escape from custody in 1997; resisting arrest in 2004 and again in 2006;

and domestic assault, third-degree assault with physical injury, property damage,

robbery, and burglary in 2008. The PSR calculated a criminal history score of 23,

which was 10 points above the score necessary to place Irby in the highest category.

With a total offense level of 17 and a criminal history category of VI, the PSR

recommended an advisory sentencing range of 51 to 63 months’ imprisonment. The

government recommended an upward variance to 108 months’ imprisonment to

reflect the dangerousness of Irby’s behavior while fleeing from the police and his

extensive criminal history. Irby requested a sentence at the top of the Guidelines

range. 

The district court varied upward, imposing a 120-month sentence, which was

the maximum term permitted under 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2). In explaining its reasons

for the sentence, the district court noted that Irby’s criminal history constituted “one

of the worst records” it had ever seen. It recounted Irby’s above-described offenses

and explained that “it’s not just the number of convictions,” but “[i]t’s the kind of

convictions that are on your record, you know, a lot of violent type offenses.” It also

noted that the circumstances of Irby’s present crime supported an upward variance

because he had shot at police officers to facilitate his escape and “recklessly created

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Appellate Case: 15-3548 Page: 3 Date Filed: 08/01/2016 Entry ID: 4432318 
a substantial risk of death orserious bodily injury to others” by driving at high speeds

through a residential neighborhood. The district court concluded that “[f]or those

reasons[,] I think that you deserve a higher sentence than what the guidelines

provide.”

Irby argues that the district court procedurally erred and that the sentence

imposed was substantively unreasonable. We review the sentence imposed by the

district court for abuse of discretion. United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461

(8th Cir. 2009) (en banc). A district court commits procedural error by “failing to

calculate (or improperly calculating) the Guidelines range, treating the Guidelines as

mandatory, failing to consider the § 3553(a) factors, selecting a sentence based on

clearly erroneous facts, or failing to adequately explain the chosen

sentence—including an explanation for any deviation from the Guidelines range.” 

Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). A district court imposes a

substantively unreasonable sentence “when it fails to consider a relevant factor that

should have received significant weight; gives significant weight to an improper or

irrelevant factor; or considers only the appropriate factors but in weighing those

factors commits a clear error of judgment.” United States v. Nossan, 647 F.3d 822,

825 (8th Cir. 2011) (quoting United States v. Mousseau, 517 F.3d 1044, 1048-49 (8th

Cir. 2008)).

Irby contends that the district court procedurally erred because it did not

explain why the advisory sentencing range was inadequate to account for the offense

conduct. “[A] district judge must give serious consideration to the extent of any

departure from the Guidelines and must explain his conclusion that an unusually

lenient or an unusually harsh sentence is appropriate in a particular case with

sufficient justifications.” Gall, 552 U.S. at 46. We conclude that the district court’s

explanation satisfied both of these procedural requirements, given Irby’s lifethreatening conduct during the instant offense, as well as his consistent pattern of

violent, reckless offenses.

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Appellate Case: 15-3548 Page: 4 Date Filed: 08/01/2016 Entry ID: 4432318 
Irby argues that his sentence was substantively unreasonable because the

district court committed a clear error of judgment in weighing the § 3553(a) factors. 

“In reviewing the reasonableness of a sentence outside the Guidelines range, appellate

courts may . . . take the degree of variance into account and consider the extent of a

deviation from the Guidelines,” but may not require “‘extraordinary’ circumstances

to justify a sentence outside the Guidelines range” or apply “a rigid mathematical

formula that uses the percentage of a departure as the standard for determining the

strength of the justifications required for a specific sentence.” Gall, 552 U.S. at 47. 

We “may consider the extent of the deviation [from the advisory sentencing range],

but must give due deference to the district court’s decision that the § 3553(a) factors,

on a whole, justify the extent of the variance.” Id. at 51.

Irby contends that the district court did not place sufficient weight on the

advisory sentencing range, which had already incorporated the circumstances of his

offense and his criminal history. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(4). But “factors that have

already been taken into account in calculating the advisory Guidelines range can

nevertheless formthe basis of a variance.” United States v. Stoner, 795 F.3d 883, 885

(8th Cir. 2015) (quoting United States v. David, 682 F.3d 1074, 1077 (8th Cir.

2012)). Although the PSR increased Irby’s offense level to reflect Irby’s use of the

shotgun and his reckless driving, the district court acted within its discretion when

it concluded that the advisory sentencing range had not fully addressed the

seriousness of Irby’s actions. See id. 

As recounted above, the district court explained that the number and severity

of Irby’s prior offenses constituted “one of the worst records I’ve ever seen.” 

Although each of Irby’s prior offenses received points, his total criminal history was

well above the score required to place Irby in category VI, leaving 10 points

essentially uncounted. Some of Irby’s prior offenses were similar to the instant

offense and many involved violent or reckless conduct, and so, giving due deference

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Appellate Case: 15-3548 Page: 5 Date Filed: 08/01/2016 Entry ID: 4432318 
to the district court’s decision, we conclude that the 57-month variance from the top

of the advisory sentencing range was justified.

The sentence is affirmed.

______________________________

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Appellate Case: 15-3548 Page: 6 Date Filed: 08/01/2016 Entry ID: 4432318