UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 12-4147

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

EDWARD LEE GREGORY, a/k/a Eddie Lee Gregory, a/k/a Eddie 

Gregory,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of 

South Carolina, at Columbia. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., District 

Judge. (3:10-cr-01030-JFA-1)

Submitted: September 27, 2012 Decided: October 1, 2012

Before MOTZ, DAVIS, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Louis H. Lang, CALLISON TIGHE & ROBINSON, LLC, Columbia, South 

Carolina, for Appellant. William N. Nettles, United States 

Attorney, Jeffrey Mikell Johnson, Robert F. Daley, Jr., William 

K. Witherspoon, Assistant United States Attorneys, Columbia, 

South Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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PER CURIAM:

Edward Lee Gregory pled guilty to possession of 

firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2), 

924(e) (West 2000 & Supp. 2011). The district court granted the 

Government’s motion for a downward departure based on Gregory’s 

substantial assistance, and sentenced Gregory to 130 months, the 

bottom of the Guidelines range. On appeal, Gregory contends 

that the district court erred by applying a four-level 

enhancement for use of a firearm in connection with another 

felony, USSG § 2K2.1(b)(6),* and abused its discretion by denying 

Gregory’s request for a sentence below the mandatory minimum 

based on factors in addition to his substantial assistance to 

the Government. We affirm.

The Sentencing Guidelines provide for a four-level 

enhancement to a defendant’s advisory Guidelines range if the 

defendant “used or possessed any firearm or ammunition in 

connection with another felony offense.” USSG § 2K2.1(b)(6)(B). 

Trading a firearm for drugs constitutes “use” of a firearm “in 

relation to” a drug trafficking offense. Smith v. United 

States, 508 U.S. 223, 227 (1993); United States v. Garnett, 243 

F.3d 824, 829 (4th Cir. 2001). Here, Gregory facilitated the 

sale of firearms from Joseph Patterson to John Bennett. Gregory 

 * U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 2K2.1(b)(6) (2011).
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took possession of the firearms and delivered them to Bennett in 

exchange for $3,600 cash, a pound of marijuana, and some pills. 

Gregory gave the money and the marijuana to Patterson, who gave 

Gregory $200 and a quarter pound of marijuana. Because Gregory 

exchanged the firearms for money and drugs, the district court 

properly applied the enhancement, finding that the use of the 

firearm was in relation to the felony offense of possession with 

intent to distribute marijuana. 

Gregory was correctly determined to be an Armed Career 

Criminal, subject to the mandatory minimum 180-month sentence. 

18 U.S.C. § 924(e) (2006). The Government moved for a downward 

departure based on Gregory’s substantial assistance, and the 

court granted a four-level departure, making Gregory’s advisory 

Guidelines range 130 to 162 months. 

Gregory requested a sentence below this Guidelines 

range based on the fact that, between the time of the offense, 

October 2005, and the time he was indicted in October 2010, 

Gregory stopped using drugs, quit his criminal lifestyle, and 

maintained lawful employment. He argues that his sentence is 

unreasonable because the district court failed to give him any 

credit for his extraordinary post-offense, pre-indictment selfrehabilitation.

District courts have “[l]imited authority to impose a 

sentence below a statutory minimum.” 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) 
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(2006). Such authority is granted when the Government makes a 

motion for a reduced sentence based on the “defendant’s 

substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of 

another person who has committed an offense.” Id. However, 

“the extent of a § 3553(e) departure is based solely on the 

defendant’s substantial assistance and other factors related to 

that assistance.” United States v. Hood, 556 F.3d 226, 234 n.2 

(4th Cir. 2009); see United States v. A.B., 529 F.3d 1275, 1285 

(10th Cir. 2008) (holding that district court lacks authority to 

depart further below statutory minimum after granting departure 

based on substantial assistance). 

The district court properly exercised its authority to 

depart below the statutory mandatory minimum based on the 

Government’s motion. We conclude that the district court did 

not abuse its discretion in considering the serious and 

prolonged nature of Gregory’s criminal history, as well as his 

extraordinary self-rehabilitation and other sentencing factors, 

and imposing a 130-month sentence—the bottom of the advisory 

Guidelines range. See Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 46, 

51 (2007) (providing standard of review); United States v. 

Allen, 491 F.3d 178, 193 (4th Cir. 2007) (applying appellate 

presumption of reasonableness to within-Guidelines sentence). 

Accordingly, we affirm Gregory’s sentence. We dispense with 

oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
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adequately presented in the materials before the court and 

argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED