Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-05-01961/USCOURTS-ca8-05-01961-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Craig J. Kiertzner
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 05-1961

___________

United States of America, *

*

Plaintiff - Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the District

* of Nebraska.

Craig J. Kiertzner, *

* [PUBLISHED]

Defendant - Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: December 12

 Filed: August 21, 2006 

___________

Before MELLOY, COLLOTON, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Craig Kiertzner pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in

violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The facts underlying his plea involved his receipt,

possession, and offer for sale of eleven firearms allegedly owned by his father. The

plea agreement included a recommendation for an offense-level adjustment based on

acceptance of responsibility and a recommendation for sentencing at the low end of

the Guidelines range. Kiertzner entered his plea on November 1, 2004. Prior to

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The Honorable Laurie Smith Camp, United States District Judge for the

District of Nebraska.

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sentencing, the Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S.

220 (2005).

At sentencing, Kiertzner alleged that his possession of the firearms did not

involve the type of harm or risk of harm envisioned by Congress when Congress

prohibited felons from possessing firearms. Rather, he alleged that he merely

possessed the firearms temporarily in order to dispose of them, by sale, for his aged

and infirm father. Based on this argument, he made specific requests for traditional

departures under U.S.S.G. §§ 5K2.0 (outside the heartland) and 5K2.11 (lesser

harms). He also requested, based on the logic of his arguments for these traditional

departures and all of the factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), that the district court1

exercise its discretion under Booker to sentence below the Guidelines range.

The district court recognized its authority under Booker and treated the

Guidelines as advisory. It considered and rejected the defendant’s specific requests

for traditional departures, granted a two level downward adjustment based on

acceptance of responsibility, and sentenced Kiertzner at the bottom of the applicable

Guidelines range, forty-one months. We now know, post-Booker, that it is necessary

for sentencing courts to calculate the applicable, advisory Guidelines range, including

any traditional departures or reductions, and use that range as one of the factors under

§ 3553(a) to determine an overall, reasonable sentence. United States v. Haack, 403

F.3d 997, 1002-03 (8th Cir. 2005). We continue to hold, post-Booker, that a

sentencing court’s discretionary refusal to grant a traditional departure is unreviewable

as long as the court recognized its authority to depart. United States v. Morell, 429

F.3d 1161, 1164 (8th Cir. 2005). Here, because the district court properly understood

its authority under U.S.S.G. §§ 5K2.0 and 5K2.11, its decision not to grant a

traditional departure is unreviewable. Regarding the overall reasonableness of the

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sentence, a sentence within the Guidelines range is presumptively reasonable in our

circuit. United States v. Marcussen, 403 F.3d 982, 985 n.4 (8th Cir. 2005). In the

application of § 3553(a) to the present case, we find nothing that justifies deviation

from this general rule. The sentence imposed is reasonable.

The judgment of the district court is affirmed.

______________________________ 

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