Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-04-02738/USCOURTS-ca8-04-02738-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Brian Fay Jeremiah
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 04-2738

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, * Appeal from the United States

* District Court for the Western

v. * District of Arkansas.

*

Brian Fay Jeremiah, * [UNPUBLISHED]

*

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: May 9, 2005

Filed: May 18, 2005 

___________

Before LOKEN, Chief Judge, BEAM, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Jeremiah pled guilty to a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2425 for using interstate

commerce to transmit information about a minor. At his sentencing hearing, which

occurred five days after the United States Supreme Court decided Blakely v.

Washington, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004), Jeremiah challenged the constitutionality of the

sentencing guidelines. The district court rejected the Blakely argument, but

sentenced him to 27 months' imprisonment, the minimum for his offense level. 

Given this court's decisions in United States v. Haidley, 400 F.3d 642 (8th Cir.

2005), and United States v. Garcia, No. 04-3016, 2005 WL 957319 (8th Cir. Apr. 27,

Appellate Case: 04-2738 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/18/2005 Entry ID: 1904048
-2-

2005), we reverse and remand this case for resentencing. Like the defendants in those

two cases, Jeremiah was sentenced at the low end of his guidelines range, and he has

properly preserved his argument that the sentencing guidelines were unconstitutional.

Under these circumstances, the government bears the burden of showing the

sentencing error–using an unconstitutional mandatory sentencing guidelines

scheme–was harmless. Haidley, 400 F.3d at 644. The government made no such

argument in its brief, and it waived oral argument. Thus, it has not satisfied its

burden of showing that the sentencing error was harmless. Garcia, 2005 WL 957319

at *2 n.3.

We reverse and remand for resentencing.

______________________________

Appellate Case: 04-2738 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/18/2005 Entry ID: 1904048