PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.  No. 04-4580

HERBERT WILLIAMS,

Defendant-Appellant. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.  No. 05-4670

HERBERT WILLIAMS,

Defendant-Appellant. 

Appeals from the United States District Court

for the District of South Carolina, at Columbia.

Cameron McGowan Currie, District Judge.

(CR-04-324)

Argued: March 15, 2006

Decided: April 11, 2006

Before LUTTIG and SHEDD, Circuit Judges,

and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by published opinion. Senior Judge Hamilton wrote the

opinion, in which Judge Luttig and Judge Shedd joined. 
COUNSEL

ARGUED: James Harold Babb, HOWLE & BABB, L.L.P., Sumter,

South Carolina, for Appellant. Kevin Frank McDonald, Assistant

United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

ATTORNEY, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee. ON BRIEF:

J. Strom Thurmond, Jr., United States Attorney, Columbia, South

Carolina, for Appellee. 

OPINION

HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge: 

Following his guilty plea to the charge of conspiracy to make, possess, and utter forged securities, 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 513, Herbert Williams was sentenced to thirty-six months’ imprisonment. Both

Williams and the government appealed, challenging the sentence

imposed by the district court. While the appeal and cross-appeal were

pending, the Supreme Court decided United States v. Booker, 543

U.S. 220 (2005). As a result of the Court’s decision in Booker, we

granted the government’s motion to remand Williams’ case for resentencing in accordance with Booker. On remand, Williams was sentenced to sixty months’ imprisonment. He appeals his sentence and,

for the reasons stated below, we affirm. 

I

From approximately February 1999 until March 2001, Williams

was part of a group that stole commercial checks from businesses and

then altered them for cashing at grocery stores in South Carolina and

Georgia. As a result of his criminal activities, Williams was indicted

on several charges, but ultimately pled guilty to the charge of conspiracy to make, possess, and utter forged securities, 18 U.S.C. §§ 371,

513. 

In preparation for sentencing, a Presentence Investigation Report

(PSR) was prepared. The PSR recommended a base offense level of

6 under United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual

2 UNITED STATES v. WILLIAMS
(USSG) § 2B1.1(a)(2). The PSR also recommended: (1) a 10 level

enhancement because the amount of loss was $132,984.38, USSG

§ 2B1.1(b)(1)(F); (2) a 2 level enhancement because Williams used

a social security card and a birth certificate from another person to

utter some of the stolen checks, USSG § 2B1.1(b)(9)(C)(i); (3) a 2

level enhancement because Williams used a minor to assist in the

commission of the offense, USSG § 3B1.4; (4) a 4 level enhancement

for Williams’ role in the offense, USSG § 3B1.1(a); and (5) a 3 level

reduction for acceptance of responsibility, USSG § 3E1.1.1 Consequently, Williams’ total offense level of 21, coupled with his criminal

history category of VI, yielded a sentencing range of 77 to 96 months’

imprisonment. However, because the statutory maximum sentence for

the conspiracy charge was sixty months, Williams’ resulting Guidelines sentence was sixty months, USSG § 5G1.1(a). 

At the initial sentencing on July 12, 2004, Williams argued that the

use of the amount of loss, the unauthorized use of identification, the

use of a minor, and the leadership role enhancements violated the

principles outlined in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004).

The district court agreed and held that the sentencing enhancements

could not be applied post-Blakely. Accordingly, the court determined

it would impose a statutory sentence and sentenced Williams to thirtysix months’ imprisonment. In imposing the sentence, the district court

observed that Williams was receiving a far more favorable sentence

than if the Guidelines had applied: "Well, I have given him credit for

two extra years that he wouldn’t get credit for if I sentenced him

under the guidelines." 

On July 19, 2004, the district court entered its judgment to which

both parties appealed. While the appeal and cross-appeal were pending, the Supreme Court decided Booker. On March 30, 2005, the government filed a motion to have the case remanded for resentencing in

light of Booker. On April 22, 2005, we granted a "limited remand for

the purpose of resentencing . . . in accordance with the rules

announced" in Booker. 

1The parties agree that the enhancements contained in the PSR were

not alleged in the indictment. 

UNITED STATES v. WILLIAMS 3
On remand, the district court applied the principles outlined in

Booker. Because Williams’ offense level was 21 and his criminal history category was VI, his sentencing range of 77 to 96 months’

imprisonment exceeded the sixty month statutory maximum sentence.

Thus, the statutory maximum sentence of sixty months became the

Guidelines sentence, USSG § 5G1.1(a). The district court stated it

considered "the factors in [§] 3553(a)" and found that there were no

factors that warranted "a sentence other than the statutory maximum

sentence in view of the fact that the guideline sentence would be even

higher than that." The court sentenced Williams to the statutory maximum term of sixty months’ imprisonment. An amended judgment was

entered and Williams filed a timely notice of appeal. 

II

Williams first contends that the district court’s application on

remand of various sentencing enhancements violated the Ex Post

Facto Clause of the Constitution. He submits that, at the time of his

criminal conduct, a sentencing court was not permitted to increase the

maximum sentencing range on the basis of facts not charged in the

indictment or proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt; therefore,

he reasons, retroactive application of Booker, permitting the sentencing court to apply enhancements premised on court-found facts, violates his rights guaranteed by the Ex Post Facto Clause. 

In United States v. Jamison, 416 F.3d 538 (7th Cir. 2005), the Seventh Circuit recognized that, even though a defendant has a right to

fair notice of criminal penalties, the retroactive application of the

remedial portion of Booker does not violate either due process or ex

post facto guarantees: 

Jamison essentially seeks a sentence that comports with the

Sixth Amendment requirements of Booker, but wants to

avoid the possibility of a higher sentence under the remedial

holding of Booker. Unfortunately for Jamison, the Supreme

Court clearly instructed that both holdings should be applied

to all cases on direct review. . . . [Moreover,] Jamison knew

that he was committing a crime at the time he distributed

cocaine base. The new judicial interpretation of the law

brought about by Booker affects his punishment, not

4 UNITED STATES v. WILLIAMS
whether his conduct was innocent. Distributing cocaine base

was not made a crime by the Court’s decision in Booker.

Jamison also had fair warning that distributing cocaine base

was punishable by a prison term of up to twenty years, as

spelled out in the United States Code. Jamison had sufficient

warning of the possible consequences of his actions, and his

sentence does not run afoul of any of the core concepts discussed in Rogers.

Id. at 539. 

Williams does not attempt to distinguish the Jamison court’s persuasive reasoning, nor could he. Williams was sentenced to sixty

months’ imprisonment, the statutory maximum for the conspiracy

charge. Indeed, he was warned at his guilty-plea hearing that the maximum term of imprisonment for which he was eligible was five years’

imprisonment. Therefore, we conclude that Williams had "fair warning" of the "possible consequences of his actions," as "spelled out in

the United States Code." Id. 

Williams also argues that the sentence imposed by the district court

on remand from this court’s April 22, 2005 order is presumptively

vindictive because it is longer than the sentence imposed by the district court at Williams’ initial sentencing. When a sentencing court

imposes a more severe sentence on remand, the reasons for the court

"doing so must affirmatively appear." Alabama v. Smith, 490 U.S.

794, 798 (1989) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). "Otherwise, a presumption arises that a greater sentence has been imposed

for a vindictive purpose—a presumption that must be rebutted by

objective information . . . justifying the increased sentence." Id. at

798-99 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). However, the

presumption of vindictiveness does not "apply in every case where a

convicted defendant receives a higher sentence." Id. at 799 (citation

and internal quotation marks omitted). Indeed, the presumption of

vindictiveness is not designed to prevent the imposition of an

increased sentence "for some valid reason associated with the need

for flexibility and discretion in the sentencing process," but is "premised on the apparent need to guard against vindictiveness in the resentencing process." Chaffin v. Stynchcombe, 412 U.S. 17, 25 (1973).

The presumption applies only where there exists a "reasonable likeliUNITED STATES v. WILLIAMS 5
hood . . . that the increase in sentence is the product of actual vindictiveness," and "[w]here there is no such reasonable likelihood, the

burden remains upon the defendant to prove actual vindictiveness."

Smith, 490 U.S. at 799 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). 

The district court’s justifications for the longer sentence on remand

are that it was required to apply our instructions on remand and the

Supreme Court’s decision in Booker. These justifications are plainly

"valid reason[s] associated with the need for flexibility and discretion

in the sentencing process." Chaffin, 412 U.S. at 25. Given such valid

reasons for the increased sentence, there is no reasonable likelihood

that the sentence was based on actual vindictiveness. Consequently,

the presumption of vindictiveness does not apply in this case and the

burden is on Williams to prove actual vindictiveness. 

Williams offers no reason why we should find vindictiveness in a

longer sentence that results from the unique situation where the district court understandably could not predict the remedial outcome in

Booker. In short, we hold that there is no vindictiveness in a postBooker sentence that exceeds the original pre-Booker sentence solely

because Booker changed the law. See United States v. Reinhart, No.

05-30245, 2006 WL 541037, at *2 (5th Cir. March 7, 2006) (holding

that higher sentence on Booker remand not vindictive); United States

v. Bad Marriage, 439 F.3d 534, 539 (9th Cir. 2006) (same); United

States v. Goldberg, 406 F.3d 891, 894 (7th Cir. 2005) (same). 

Williams next contends that the sixty month sentence imposed by

the district court was unreasonable under Booker. Although the Sentencing Guidelines are no longer mandatory, Booker makes clear that

a sentencing court "must consult the Guidelines and take them into

account when sentencing." 543 U.S. at 224 (Breyer, J., opinion of the

Court). The sentencing court should consider this sentencing range

along with the other factors described in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and then

impose a sentence. United States v. Hughes, 401 F.3d 540, 546 (4th

Cir. 2005). The sentence must be "within the statutorily prescribed

range . . . and is reasonable." Id. at 547. If the sentence imposed is

within the properly calculated sentencing range, it is presumptively

reasonable. United States v. Green, 436 F.3d 449, 457 (4th Cir. 2006).

6 UNITED STATES v. WILLIAMS
In sentencing Williams on remand, the district court considered the

properly calculated advisory sentencing range and the factors in

§ 3553(a). Because the court sentenced Williams to the sixty months

after properly considering the § 3553(a) factors, we conclude that the

sixty month sentence is reasonable. 

III

For the reasons stated herein, the judgment of the district court is

affirmed.2

AFFIRMED

2We also find no merit to Williams’ argument that his sixty month sentence violates his rights guaranteed by the Double Jeopardy Clause of the

Fifth Amendment. 

UNITED STATES v. WILLIAMS 7