Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-05-02911/USCOURTS-ca8-05-02911-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Darryl E. Laytham
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Ortrie D. Smith, United States District Judge for the Western

District of Missouri.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 05-2911

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* Western District of Missouri.

Darryl E. Laytham, *

* [UNPUBLISHED]

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: September 20, 2006

Filed: September 25, 2006

___________

Before RILEY, COLLOTON, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Darryl Laytham pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of

methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(vii), and 846, and

to being a drug user in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(3)

and 924(a)(2). At sentencing, the district court1

 calculated a Guidelines imprisonment

range of 135-168 months, and sentenced Laytham to concurrent terms in prison of 135

months for the drug-conspiracy conviction and 120 months for the firearm conviction,

to be followed by concurrent supervised release terms of 5 years and 3 years. For

Appellate Case: 05-2911 Page: 1 Date Filed: 09/25/2006 Entry ID: 2092759
-2-

reversal, Laytham argues that the district court erred in enhancing his base offense

level by two levels under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1) for possessing a dangerous weapon

in connection with his drug offense. We disagree, and therefore we affirm Laytham’s

sentence.

The district court did not clearly err in imposing the enhancement. See United

States v. Torres, 409 F.3d 1000, 1003 (8th Cir. 2005) (standard of review). Three

firearms, one of which was a pistol, were found in Laytham’s home. The firearms

were loaded and accessible, and drugs and paraphernalia used in drug distribution

were also found in the home. See U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1, comment n.3 (adjustment should

be applied if weapon was present unless it is clearly improbable that weapon was

connected with offense); United States v. Lopez, 416 F.3d 713, 716 (8th Cir. 2005)

(likelihood of connection between drug offense and guns is increased by fact that gun

at issue is pistol, which is type of gun recognized as particularly likely to be used in

drug trade; further, loaded firearm implies probability of connection between drug

offense and firearm); United States v. Betz, 82 F.3d 205, 211 (8th Cir. 1996) (weaponpossession enhancement upheld where firearms were found on premises from which

drug activities were conducted).

Accordingly, we affirm.

______________________________

Appellate Case: 05-2911 Page: 2 Date Filed: 09/25/2006 Entry ID: 2092759