IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 11-10543

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.

JESUS JAVIER GARZA,

Defendant–Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Northern District of Texas

Before DeMOSS, OWEN, and HAYNES, Circuit Judges.

PRISCILLA R. OWEN, Circuit Judge:

Jesus Javier Garza violated the conditions of his supervised release and

was sentenced to twenty-four months of imprisonment to be followed by twentyfour months of supervised release. On appeal, Garza argues that the district

court improperly considered his rehabilitative needs in determining the length

of his prison sentence in violation of Tapia v. United States, which held that “a 1

court may not impose or lengthen a prison sentence to enable an offender to

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

F I L E D

February 1, 2013

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

 131 S. Ct. 2382 (2011).

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complete a treatment program or otherwise to promote rehabilitation.” We

2

vacate and remand for resentencing.

I

Garza pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute

methamphetamine and was sentenced to fifty-five months in prison to be

followed by a five-year term of supervised release. Garza began serving that

term of supervised release on August 1, 2008. When Garza allegedly violated a

number of the conditions of his supervised release, the Government filed a

motion to revoke supervised release pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e).

At his revocation hearing, Garza pleaded true to all of the factual

allegations in the Government’s motion to revoke, with one exception, and the

court revoked Garza’s supervised release. Although the advisory Sentencing

Guidelines range was three to nine months of imprisonment, the district court

imposed a sentence of twenty-four months in prison, to be followed by a twentyfour month term of supervised release. In the course of imposing this sentence,

the district court extensively discussed the rehabilitation opportunities that

prison terms of varying lengths would afford Garza. This appeal followed.

II

A threshold question in this appeal is whether 18 U.S.C. § 3582(a) applies

to revocation sentences. In Tapia, the Supreme Court held that, under

§ 3582(a), a sentencing court “may not impose or lengthen a prison sentence to

enable an offender to complete a treatment program or otherwise to promote

rehabilitation.” However, Tapia was an appeal of a sentence imposed for the 3

initial conviction, and although our court has assumed that its holding extends

Tapia, 131 S. Ct. at 2393. 2

Id. 3

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to the revocation context, we have never so held. The Government concedes 4

that Tapia applies to revocation sentences, and we agree. In so holding, we join

the uniform post-Tapia case law in our sister circuits.5

The factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) that a district court should

consider in imposing a sentence apply when supervised release is revoked.6

These factors include “the need for the sentence imposed . . . to provide the

defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other

correctional treatment in the most effective manner.” However, with regard to 7

determining if imprisonment should be imposed as part of a sentence and if so,

the length of the term of imprisonment, § 3582(a) directs a district court to

“recogniz[e] that imprisonment is not an appropriate means of promoting

correction and rehabilitation.” 

8

The wording and context of § 3582(a) persuades us that it applies in the

revocation context. First, in the same sentence in § 3582(a) that admonishes

E.g., United States v. Receskey, 699 F.3d 807, 810 (5th Cir. 2012).

4

United States v. Bennett, 698 F.3d 194 (4th Cir. 2012); United States v. Mendiola, 696 5

F.3d 1033 (10th Cir. 2012); United States v. Taylor, 679 F.3d 1005 (8th Cir. 2012); United

States v. Grant, 664 F.3d 276 (9th Cir. 2011); United States v. Molignaro, 649 F.3d 1 (1st Cir.

2011) (Souter, J. (Ret.), sitting by designation); see also United States v. Jackson, 477 F. App’x

377 (6th Cir. 2012) (applying Tapia to a revocation sentence without discussion of its

applicability); United States v. Williams, 467 F. App’x 59 (2d Cir. 2012) (assuming without

deciding that Tapia applies to revocation sentences). The only outlier was our own decision

in United States v. Breland, 647 F.3d 284 (5th Cir. 2011), which the Supreme Court vacated,

132 S. Ct. 1096 (2012) (mem.), and in which case we ultimately remanded for resentencing,

463 F. App’x 376, 376-77 (5th Cir. 2012). Although we need not today revisit our prior decision

in United States v. Giddings, 37 F.3d 1091 (5th Cir. 1994), which held that § 3582(a) does not

apply to mandatory revocation while expressly reserving the question of whether the statute

applied to discretionary revocation, we note that Tapia casts substantial doubt on the

continuing vitality of Giddings’s holding.

See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(4)(B). 6

Id. § 3553(a)(2)(D).

7

Id. § 3582(a). 8

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courts that they cannot use imprisonment as a means of correction or

rehabilitation, Congress directs courts to consider the factors set forth in

§ 3553(a) “to the extent they are applicable.” As already noted, a sentence 9

imposed for a violation of supervised release comes within § 3553(a), and a court

is directed by § 3553(a)(3) and (a)(4)(B) to consider the kinds of sentences

available and the applicable sentencing range established by the Guidelines or

the Commission’s policy statements. This would include a term of 10

imprisonment, if available. It therefore stands to reason that the subsequent

part of the phrasing in § 3582(a) that prohibits consideration of rehabilitative

needs applies to a prison term imposed upon revocation of supervised release.

Second, § 3582(a) is quite clear: “imprisonment is not an appropriate

means of promoting correction and rehabilitation.” The phrasing of this statute 11

does not suggest that it applies only when a sentence is imposed for the

underlying conviction but that in the revocation context, promoting

rehabilitation can be considered in deciding whether to impose a prison sentence

and if so, the length of confinement. While it is true that the statute 12

Section 3582(a), titled “Factors to be considered in imposing a term of imprisonment,”

9

states as follows:

The court, in determining whether to impose a term of imprisonment, and, if a

term of imprisonment is to be imposed, in determining the length of the term,

shall consider the factors set forth in section 3553(a) to the extent that they are

applicable, recognizing that imprisonment is not an appropriate means of

promoting correction and rehabilitation. In determining whether to make a

recommendation concerning the type of prison facility appropriate for the

defendant, the court shall consider any pertinent policy statements issued by

the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994(a)(2).

Id.

Id. § 3553(a)(3), (a)(4)(B). 10

Id. § 3582(a) (emphasis added).

11

United States v. Bennett, 698 F.3d 194, 197 (4th Cir. 2012); United States v. Grant,

12

664 F.3d 276, 281 (9th Cir. 2011); United States v. Molignaro, 649 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir. 2011)

(Souter, J. (Ret.), sitting by designation); see also United States v. Mendiola, 696 F.3d 1033,

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authorizing revocation of supervised release, 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e), speaks in

terms of “requir[ing] the defendant to serve in prison” rather than “imposing . . .

imprisonment” as in § 3582(a), we agree with the Court of Appeals for the 13

Fourth Circuit that this is a “distinction in search of significance.” As the

14

Fourth Circuit noted, this is particularly true in light of the Supreme Court’s

adoption of a broad definition of “imprisonment” as “[t]he state of being confined

or a period of confinement.” “The Tapia Court’s unanimous conclusion was 15

that where actual incarceration is involved, Congress did not intend for courts

to consider rehabilitation in determining the fact or length of the sentence.”16

Third, Tapia’s reasoning was not limited to the text of § 3582(a). “Equally

illuminating,” the Court explained, “is a statutory silence—the absence of any

provision granting courts the power to ensure that offenders participate in

prison rehabilitation programs.” Unlike the statutes governing probation or 17

supervised release, in which Congress gives courts authority to order

participation in rehabilitation programs, the provisions governing the imposition

of prison terms grant courts no such authority. “That incapacity speaks 18

1043 (10th Cir. 2012) (Gorsuch, J., concurring) (“From [Tapia], it follows ineluctably (plainly)

that § 3582(a) prohibits a court from relying on rehabilitation considerations any time it

chooses to send someone to a term of confinement in a federal prison . . . .” (citing Tapia v.

United States, 131 S. Ct. 2382, 2391 (2011))).

Compare 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3) (emphasis added), with id. § 3582(a) (emphasis 13

added).

Bennett, 698 F.3d at 197; see also Molignaro, 649 F.3d at 2-3 (dismissing a similar 14

argument based on this distinction).

Bennett, 698 F.3d at 198 (alteration in original) (quoting Tapia, 131 S Ct. at 2389) 15

(internal quotation marks omitted).

Id. at 197 n.*. 16

Tapia v. United States, 131 S. Ct. 2382, 2390 (2011).

17

Id. 18

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volumes. It indicates that Congress did not intend that courts consider

offenders’ rehabilitative needs when imposing prison sentences.”19

As JUSTICE SOUTER, writing for the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit,

observed, “There is nothing tentative about this reasoning: if Congress wanted

judges to consider rehabilitation, it gave judicial authority to control [whether

a defendant participated in such a program].” Since there is a similar absence 20

of authority for district courts to mandate participation in rehabilitation

programs while serving a term of imprisonment on revocation, we are bound to

conclude that a sentencing court may not consider rehabilitative needs in

imposing or lengthening any term of imprisonment.

III

Having resolved that 18 U.S.C. § 3582(a) applies to a revocation sentence,

we must determine whether the district court improperly considered Garza’s

rehabilitative needs in imposing a prison sentence. We conclude, based on the

district court’s comments at sentencing, that it did so in this case.

As noted, § 3582(a) proscribes the use of a defendant’s rehabilitative needs

in imposing a prison term or in calculating the length of the defendant’s prison

sentence. This does not mean, however, that a district court may make no

reference to the rehabilitative opportunities available to a defendant. To the

contrary, in Tapia the Court made clear that “[a] court commits no error by

discussing the opportunities for rehabilitation within prison or the benefits of

specific treatment or training programs.” A district court also may legitimately

21

“urge the [Bureau of Prisons] to place an offender in a prison treatment

Id. at 2391. 19

United States v. Molignaro, 649 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir. 2011) (Souter, J. (Ret.), sitting by 20

designation).

Tapia, 131 S. Ct. at 2392. 21

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program.” However, when the district court’s concern for rehabilitative needs 22

goes further—when the sentencing record discloses “that the court may have

calculated the length of [the defendant’s] sentence to ensure that she receive

certain rehabilitative services” —§ 3582(a) has been violated. 23

Our limited precedent post-Tapia has described the distinction between

legitimate commentary and inappropriate consideration as whether

rehabilitation is a “secondary concern” or “additional justification” (permissible)

as opposed to a “dominant factor” (impermissible) informing the district court’s

decision. For example, in United States v. Receskey, the district court 24 25

discussed the potential rehabilitative opportunities available to a defendant only

after discussing its independent, unrelated reasons for selecting the length of the

defendant’s sentence. This court held that the sentencing court had committed 26

no Tapia error. By contrast, in United States v. Broussard, the district court 27 28

first described in detail the need to incarcerate a defendant for a long period

Id. 22

Id. at 2393. 23

United States v. Receskey, 699 F.3d 807, 810, 812 (5th Cir. 2012) (internal quotation

24

marks omitted).

 699 F.3d 807. 25

Receskey, 699 F.3d at 808-09. 26

Id. at 812. Similar cases from other circuits include United States v. Gilliard, 671 27

F.3d 255 (2d Cir. 2012) (district court discussed rehabilitation but stated that, at bottom, any

arguments for a lower sentence were “outweighed by what [the court] consider[ed] to be the

high, high likelihood of recidivism and the serious nature of the crime committed and the

crimes committed in the past” (alterations in original)), United States v. Lucas, 670 F.3d 784

(7th Cir. 2012) (district court “briefly mentioned” rehabilitation programs after imposing the

sentence), and United States v. Pickar, 666 F.3d 1167 (8th Cir. 2012) (district court

emphasized that the defendant needed to be deterred and was a danger to the public, and then

noted that a longer sentence would provide the defendant with needed care and treatment).

 669 F.3d 537 (5th Cir. 2012).

28

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given the seriousness of his offense and the need to deter those who would

engage in similar conduct. The court, however, then went on to describe the 29

defendant as “sick in the head” and as “need[ing] help badly,” among other

things, and noted that although avoiding sentencing disparaties across cases is

a goal in sentencing, it was “not as compelling as the need to incarcerate this

individual for the treatment that he needs.” This court held that the district 30

court improperly considered the defendant’s rehabilitative needs in arriving at

the length of his sentence.31

The record in the present case reflects that after noting generally that the

Guidelines range of three to nine months of imprisonment “would not begin to

address” Garza’s conduct and “wouldn’t satisfy the objectives applicable to

revocation,” the court opined that Garza “should be required [or] at least be

given an opportunity to participate in that residentialinstitution drug treatment

program” in order to “get [Garza] straightened out.” The court then embarked

on a detailed discussion with the probation officer and Garza’s attorney

regarding the rehabilitation programs that would be available to Garza if he

Broussard, 669 F.3d at 551.

29

Id. at 551-52 (internal quotation marks omitted).

30

Id. at 552. Similar cases from other circuits include United States v. Mendiola, 696 31

F.3d 1033 (10th Cir. 2012) (district court stated that it was sentencing the defendant to

twenty-four months so he could participate in the Bureau of Prisons’ drug program), United

States v. Taylor, 679 F.3d 1005 (8th Cir. 2012) (district court stated that it was sentencing the

defendant to twenty-four months so he could participate in a particular program available

through the Bureau of Prisons), United States v. Grant, 664 F.3d 276 (9th Cir. 2011) (district

court emphasized that the defendant needed a sentence of twenty-four months to be placed

into rehabilitation programs), and United States v. Molignaro, 649 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2011)

(district court stated generally that the Guidelines range would not address the defendant’s

conduct and then imposed a longer sentence so that the defendant could participate in a

rehabilitation program).

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were sentenced to twenty-four months or thirty months in prison. During 32

The breadth and depth of this discussion reflects that rehabilitative opportunities 32

were considered by the court in determining the length of the prison term to be served:

THE COURT: I’m impressed with the length of time you went on your

supervised release before you started having problems. So you can do it, it looks

like, if you worked on it, but I think you need some help.

GARZA: Yes, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Ms. Roper [sic], if he has a 30-month sentence, will they

let him participate in the [long-term RDAP] program, or is that not long

enough?

PROBATION OFFICER: Your Honor, it could be enough time. I believe

if there were only 24 months, he would not be eligible at all. Probably on a 30

month, he would be able to get his name on the list.

And I do see here in the record where he did participate in the RDAP

program and did fine in that program while he was with the Bureau of Prisons

previously. In addition, there are other programs that he can take other than

the long term one. There are other courses he can take as well.

THE COURT: That would be appropriate if he had, say, a 24 month

sentence? Are there some programs?

PROBATION OFFICER: He could probably take the 40-hour program

and also take the relapse prevention program and focus on how to remain clean. 

I mean, he’s done it in the past like we’ve seen, but he needs to focus more on

the relapse prevention.

THE COURT: Well, do you think those programs you just mentioned

would be helpful for him?

PROBATION OFFICER: Yes, I believe so. The RDAP program, the long

term [sic] is actually an inpatient program within the institution where they are

housed in the same dormitories as all those going through an inpatient

program.

THE COURT: And he’s been through that?

PROBATION OFFICER: And he’s been through that.

THE COURT: Okay. Well, I’m going to—

GARZA’S ATTORNEY: Your Honor, may I interject?

THE COURT: Yes.

GARZA’S ATTORNEY: It was my understanding that Mr. Garza would

be eligible for the RDAP program based on a sentence of 24 months. I’m not

aware of it being 30 months. I thought it was 24 months.

THE COURT: You’re talking about the residential institutional program,

whatever they call it?

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this colloquy, the court made clear that rehabilitation was a standard factor it

considered, stating, “[F]or a long time, years, I thought 24 months was enough

[to get a defendant into a particular program], and I would sentence people to 24

months thinking that would be enough, and they didn’t get to participate in the

program.” Finally, after learning that a twenty-four month sentence would

allow Garza to participate in programs that the probation officer thought would

help Garza, the court announced its sentence as follows:

I’m going to sentence this defendant to 24 months. I’m not going to

give him enough time to participate in the long term program,

because I don’t think he really needs that again. I think some of

these shorter term programs ought to be enough for him. . . . I’m

hoping a 24 month term of imprisonment followed by a 24 month

term of supervised release will be enough. I hope so because I don’t

want him to be up here again.

The court offered no additional justifications for the sentence it imposed.

The record makes clear that Garza’s rehabilitative needs were the

dominant factor in the court’s mind. Although the record suggests that the court

might have been inclined to impose some upward departure in light of Garza’s

conduct, it relied only on Garza’s rehabilitative needs in fixing the length of

Garza’s sentence. If the only factor emphasized by the court is rehabilitation,

GARZA’S ATTORNEY: Yes, Your Honor. I just wanted to point out that

it was my understanding that the defendant needed to be sentenced to a

minimum of 24 months to be eligible for the program and—

THE COURT: You’re talking about what we referred to as the long-term

program?

GARZA’S ATTORNEY: Yes. That’s my understanding, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Okay. Well, I think your understanding is wrong because

we’ve been informed by the Bureau of Prisons that that’s not enough time. . . .

[Y]ou may want to double check on that, but for a long time, years, I

thought that 24 months was enough, and I would sentence people to 24 months

thinking that would be enough, and they didn’t get to participate in that

program. We finally explored and discovered the reason. It just wasn’t enough

time. . . .

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it a fortiori cannot be that rehabilitation was merely a secondary concern. 

Additionally, the court made clear that it was its standard practice to tailor the

prison sentence to the availability of rehabilitation programs. In light of these

facts, the district court committed error under Tapia.

IV

Having found error, we must determine whether that error is reversible. 

The Supreme Court had not issued Tapia at the time Garza’s sentence was

imposed. Garza made no objection to the district court’s consideration of

rehabilitative programs in deciding the term of imprisonment. Accordingly, we

may vacate the sentence only if the error is plain.33

When reviewing for plain error, we apply the following four-pronged test:

(1) there must be an error or defect—some sort of [d]eviation from

a legal rule—that has not been intentionally relinquished or

abandoned; (2) the legal error must be clear or obvious, rather than

subject to reasonable dispute; (3) the error must have affected the

appellant’s substantial rights; and (4) if the above three prongs are

satisfied, the court of appeals has the discretion to remedy the

error—discretion which ought to be exercised only if the error

seriously affect[s] the fairness, integrity or public reputation of

judicial proceedings.34

As we have explained, Garza has demonstrated that the district court erred. We

therefore are concerned only with second, third, and fourth prongs.

With respect to the second prong, we make the determination based on the

state of the law at the time of the appeal, not at the time of trial. Although, 35

until today, this court had not definitively answered whether § 3582(a) applies

United States v. Whitelaw, 580 F.3d 256, 259-60 (5th Cir. 2009). 33

United States v. Escalante-Reyes, 689 F.3d 415, 419 (5th Cir. 2012) (en banc) 34

(alterations in original) (quoting Puckett v. United States, 556 U.S. 129, 135 (2009)) (internal

quotation marks omitted).

Id. at 423.

35

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to revocation prison sentences, the post-Tapia case law in our sister circuits has

uniformly held that Tapia applies to revocation sentences. The error was clear 36

or obvious by the time of this appeal.37

There is little question that the error affected Garza’s substantial rights. 

Under this prong, “the defendant must demonstrate that the error affected the

outcome of the district court proceedings.” “In the context of sentencing, we 38

ask ‘whether the error increased the term of a sentence, such that there is a

reasonable probability of a lower sentence on remand.’” In this case, the prison 39

term suggested by the Guidelines was three to nine months, and the district

court imposed a prison term of twenty-four months, a substantial upward

departure. Although the court arguably indicated that it might have imposed

some above-Guidelines sentence due to Garza’s conduct, it focused only on the

rehabilitative options that different sentences would afford Garza in fixing the

length of Garza’s sentence. The combination of the disparity between the

Guidelines range and the court’s statements at sentencing are “sufficient to

undermine our confidence that the district court would have imposed the same

United States v. Bennett, 698 F.3d 194 (4th Cir. 2012); United States v. Mendiola, 696 36

F.3d 1033 (10th Cir. 2012); United States v. Taylor, 679 F.3d 1005 (8th Cir. 2012); United

States v. Grant, 664 F.3d 276 (9th Cir. 2011); United States v. Molignaro, 649 F.3d 1 (1st Cir.

2011) (Souter, J. (Ret.), sitting by designation); see also United States v. Jackson, 477 F. App’x

377 (6th Cir. 2012); United States v. Williams, 467 F. App’x 59 (2d Cir. 2012).

Mendiola, 696 F.3d at 1042; Taylor, 679 F.3d at 1007; Grant, 664 F.3d at 279; 37

cf. United States v. Salinas, 480 F.3d 750, 759 (5th Cir. 2007) (“Because this circuit’s law

remains unsettled and the other federal circuits have reached divergent conclusions on this

issue . . . , Salinas cannot satisfy the second prong of the plain error test—that the error be

clear under existing law.” (emphasis added) (citing United States v. Bennett, 469 F.3d 46, 50

(1st Cir. 2006), and United States v. Thompson, 82 F.3d 849, 856 (9th Cir. 1996))).

United States v. Broussard, 669 F.3d 537, 553 (5th Cir. 2012) (citing Puckett, 556 U.S. 38

at 135 (2009)).

Escalante-Reyes, 689 F.3d at 424 (quoting United States v. Garcia-Quintanilla, 574 39

F.3d 295, 304 (5th Cir. 2009)).

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sentence absent the error.” We conclude that Garza’s substantial rights were 40

violated.

Finally, we must assess whether the error in this case so “affects ‘the

fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings’” that we should

exercise our discretion to correct it. In making that determination, we do not 41

assume that this prong is automatically satisfied if we find prejudicial error

under the third prong. With that caveat in mind, and following this Court’s

42

own precedent in United States v. Escalante-Reyes as well as that of our sister 43

circuits, we believe that this case merits reversal. 44

* * *

For the foregoing reasons, Garza’s sentence is VACATED and the case is

REMANDED for resentencing consistent with this opinion.

Id. at 425. 

40

Id. (quoting Puckett, 556 U.S. at 135). 41

United States v. Reyna, 358 F.3d 344, 352 (5th Cir. 2004) (en banc).

42

 689 F.3d 415, 425-26. 43

United States v. Mendiola, 696 F.3d 1033, 1042 (10th Cir. 2012); United States v. 44

Taylor, 679 F.3d 1005, 1007 (8th Cir. 2012); United States v. Grant, 664 F.3d 276, 282 (9th Cir.

2011)

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CATHARINA HAYNES, Circuit Judge, dissenting:

I respectfully dissent. I agree that Tapia applies to sentences of

imprisonment upon revocation of supervised release. I disagree that the district

court here lengthened the sentence of imprisonment in order to provide

rehabilitation, which is the error Tapia condemns. United States v. Receskey,

1

699 F.3d 807, 810 (5th Cir. 2012) (“Tapia, however, made clear that district

courts do not err by discussing the rehabilitative opportunities within prison.”).

After beginning his supervised release following a conviction for possession

of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, Garza does not dispute that he

regressed back into drug use and other violations of his supervised release

conditions. At his sentencing upon revocation of supervised release, the district

court engaged in a lengthy colloquy with the defendant and his lawyer about the

defendant’s experience on supervised release, what led to the conduct that gave

rise to the revocation, and his prior periods of confinement. After that colloquy,

in which the court observed that a prior sentence had been very lenient, the

court stated: “I’ve considered the policy statement range of three to nine months

and that would not begin to address your conduct. It wouldn’t satisfy the

objectives of sentencing applicable to revocation in my view.” 

The court then addressed the issue of treatment programs in prison,

asking if a 30-month sentence would be long enough to allow participation in

such a program. The probation officer indicated: “[I]t could be enough time. I

believe if there were only 24 months, he would not be eligible at all. Probably on

a 30 month, he would be able to get his name on the list.” The probation officer

and the district judge then discussed the availability of “shorter” courses;

Nothing in the record suggests that the district court’s consideration of whether to 1

impose a sentence of imprisonment at all—the other type of Tapia error—was influenced by

any consideration of rehabilitation.

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however, nothing tying the length of those “shorter” courses to the length of

imprisonment was discussed. 

2

At that point, the defendant’s attorney interjected that he did not think 30

months were required to complete a “long-term” program; 24 months would be

enough. Thus, not only did the defendant’s attorney not object to consideration

of prison treatment programs, he in fact furthered and seemed to agree with that

consideration. Had the district court then pronounced a sentence of 24 months,

the majority opinion’s position would seem accurate. However, at that point, the

district judge expressly disagreed with the defense attorney about 24 months

being adequate to engage in such a program. The court then ultimately decided

to impose a 24-month sentence. The import of this discussion is that the district

court considered lengthening the defendant’s sentence to allow for treatment in

prison (i.e. “rehabilitation”) but decided not to do so. That conclusion is

buttressed by the signed judgment which provides as a condition of supervised

release that the defendant shall undergo mental health and drug treatment but

does not so much as recommend to the Bureau of Prisons any treatment while

imprisoned.

On plain error review, given the totality of the record, I cannot agree that

the district court erred. Accordingly, I would not reach the other prongs of plain

error review. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.

The only time period mentioned for the “shorter” courses was that one of the courses

2

was a “40-hour course.”

15

 Case: 11-10543 Document: 00512132401 Page: 15 Date Filed: 02/01/2013