FILED U.S. COURT OF AP P EALS E LEVEN T HC IRC U IT MAY 24, 2007 THOMAS K. KAH

N CLERK [ DO NO T P UB L I S H] I N THE UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT

________________________ N o. 07- 10185 N on -A rgum entC al endar

________________________ D . C . D ocketN o. 06 -000 61 -C R -A -N U N I T E D S T A T E S O F A M E R I C A , P la in tif f - A p p e lle e , v ersu s L I N D A H A M E L B A C O N , D e f e n d a n t- A p p e lla n t.

________________________ A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f o rth e M i d d l e D i s tr i c to f A l ab a ma

_________________________ ( M ay 24, 2007) B efo re T JO F L A T , B IR C H an d D U B IN A , C i rcu i tJu d g es. P E R C U R I A M: L i ndaH a m e l B a c on appe a l s he rpr i s on s e nt e nc e of 24 m onths f

ors t e a l i ng or2

r e c e iv in g ac h e c kf

r o m th e U n ite d S ta te s m a il, in v io la tio n o f 1 8 U .S .C . § 1 7 0 8 . S he c ont e nds tha the rs e nt e nc e w a s “ gr e a t e rtha n ne c e s s a ry t o a c hi e ve the [s ent enci ng ] pu rposes of 18 U . S . C . § 3 55 3(a) . ” H erse nt ence w as grea t erthan nece ss ary, she s ay s, because ( 1) i ti s i ncon si st entw i th o ur prece dentaf fi rm i ng as r e a s onabl e s e nt e nc e s a tthe l ow e nd of the gui de l i ne r a nge ; ( 2) he rm i t i ga t i ng e v id e n c e w a s m o r e c o m p e llin g th a n th e m itig a tin g e v id e n c e in s im ila rc a s e s ; ( 3 ) in i m po si ng a s ent ence atthe t op of the gu i del i ne ra ng e, the di stri ctcourtshow ed that it d id n o t w e ig h th e r e le v a n t s e n te n c in g f a c to r s ; ( 4 ) th e c o u rt’s f

in d in g th a t a s e nt e nc e of

24 m onths w a s ne c e s s a ry s o s he c oul d t a ke pa rti n af e de r a l drug tr e a tm e n t p r o g r a m w a s m is g u id e d b e c au s e s h e d o e s n o t n e e d f u rth e rtr e a tm e n t. M o r e o v e r , th e c o u rt c o u ld n o t g u a r a n te e th a t th e B u r e au o f P r is o n s w ill c o m p ly w ith its r e c o m m e n d a tio n , a n d e v e n if th e B u r e au d o e s , s h e w o u ld n o t b e e lig ib le f o rth e p r o g r a m b e c au s e o f h e rp r o g r e s s in s ta te d ru g - tr e a tm e n t p r o g r a m s . T he § 3553( a ) f

a c t or s , w hi c h B a c on c ont e nds the di s tr i c tc ourtm i s appl i e d, i nc l ude : ( 1) “ the na tur e a nd c i r c um s t a nc e s of the of f e ns e a nd the hi s t ory a nd c ha r a c t e r i s t i c s of

the de f e nda nt ” ; ( 2) w he the rthe s e nt e nc e i s “ s uf f i c i e nt , butnot g r e a t e rth a n n e c e s s a ry , t o c o m p l y wi th . . . th e n e e d f o rth e s e n t e n c e i m p o s e d

–( A) to r e f le c t th e s e r io u s n e s s o f

th e o f f e n s e , to p r o m o te r e s p e c t f o rth e la w , a n d to p r o v id e ju s t p u n is h m e n t f o rth e o f f e n s e ; ( B ) to a f

f o r d a d e q u a te d e te rr e n c e to3

c r im in a l c o n d u c t; ( C ) to p r o te c t th e p u b lic f r o m f u rth e rc r im e s o f

th e d e f e n d a n t; a nd ( D ) t o pr ovi de the de f e nda ntw i th ne e de d e duc a t i ona l orvoc a t i ona l tr a i ni ng, m e d ic a l c a r e , o ro th e rc o rr e c tio n a l tr e a tm e n t.” 1 8 U .S .C . § 3 5 5 3 ( a ) ( 1 ) - ( 2 ) . B a c o n s u g g e s ts th a t th e c o u rt f a ile d to d o its d u ty u n d e r§ 3 5 5 3 ( a ) b e c au s e it on l y c on si dere d d rug tre atm enti n fas hi on i ng her s ent ence . W hi l e i ti s true that tr e a tm e ntf

ordrug a ddi c t i on pl a y e d apr om i ne ntpa rti n the c ourt ’ s de c i s i on, the courtal so st at ed thati thad con si dere d the G ui del i ne se nt ence rang e and al l of the § 3553( a ) s e nt e nc i ng f

a c t or s – i n pa rt i c ul a r , the s e r i ous ne s s of he rof f e ns e a nd the n e e d to p r o te c t th e c o m m u n ity . A f te rd o in g th is , th e c o u rt c o n c lu d e d th a t a se nt ence atthe t op of the G ui del i ne se nt ence rang e, w hi ch w as three ye ar s l es s than th e s ta tu to ry m a x im u m , w a s w a rr a n te d . W e f in d n o b as is in th e r ec o rd o f th is ca se fo r c o n clu d in g th at B ac o n ’s se nt ence i s unrea sonabl e bec ause i tw as grea t erthan n ec es saryt o achi eve § 35 53 (a )’ s purpo se s. B ac on ’ s s ent ence i s there fore AF F I RME D.