2003 D e c i sion s O p inion s of the U nit e d S t at e s C our t of Appe al s for the Thir d C ir c uit 6-10-2003 

# U SA v . Ar nold P r e c e de n t i al or N on-P r e c e de n t i al : N on-P r e c e de n t i al D ocke t N o . 02-2873

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w . vi l l a no va . e du/thir dc ir c uit_2003/471NOT PRECE DENTI AL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FO R T HE TH IRD CIR CU IT

___________ No. 02-2873

___________ UNITED S TATES OF AMERI CA

v. MICHAE L ARNOLD,

Ap pellan t.

___________ On A ppeal from the Ord er of the U nited States D istrict Court

for the M iddle D istrict of P enns ylvania (No. 1:99- CR-060-1) Distri ct Court J udge: The Honorable Sy lvia H. Rambo

___________ Submitte d Pursuant to Third Circ uit L. A.R. 34.1( a)

June 5, 2003 Be for e: B AR RY , FU EN TE S, Circu it Judges , McLAU GHL IN,* Distri ct Judge (Opinion Fi led: J une 10, 2003) * The Hon orable M ary A. M cLaug hlin of the U nited States D istrict Court for the E astern Distri ct of Pennsy lvania , si tti ng by des ignati on.2 __________________________ OPINI ON OF THE COURT

__________________________ FU EN TE S, Circu it Judge
. Defendant Michael Arnol d (“Arnold”) appeals t he twelve- month sentenc e imposed by the District Court

for his second viol ation of supervi sed rel ease condi tions . Although there i s no dispute that

the Dist rict Court’s s entence was within the r ange of the pol icy statement set fo rth in § 7B 1.4(a) of the U nited States Sen tencing G uidelines (“U SSG ”), Arnold seeks remand for re- sentenci ng. The District Court’s i mpositi on of a twelvemont h se nt enc e was not

pl ai nl y unr eas onabl e, andwe wi llaff irm. I. Arn old’s m ost rec ent su perv ised re lease v iolation wa s his sec ond , but it is w orth not ing that t his v iolat ion is pa rt ofmu ltiple crim inal o ffe nse s da ting bac k se ver al year s. In 1998, Arnol d was convicte d of a counterfeiting offense and sentence d to two months of inc arcera tion to b e follo we d by a tw o-year pe riod o f sup ervise d relea se. A fter his relea se from pri son, Arnol d violated the condi tions of his fi rst s upervis ed rele ase term by possessi ng firearms. He plea ded guilt y, and the Dist

rict Court sentenced him to ei ght months of incarcerat

ion for t he supervi sed rel ease viol ation and twenty -seven months for unlawful poss ession of

firearms, t o be foll owed by anothe r two-y ear te rm of supervi sed relea se. Af ter his su bseq uent re lease f rom prison , Arn old ag ain vio lated th e term s of h is3

supe rvised release . With in mo nths o f his re lease, A rnold wa s cha rged in sep arate incidents of sp eeding, crimin al mischief, pu blic drunke nness, and disorderly conduc t-- cha rge s tha t are c lassi fied as “ Gr ade B” off ens es p ursu ant to US SG § 7B 1.1( a)(2 ). Furthermore, Arnold failed to inform his Probation Officer promptlyabout these charges, as req uired b y the term s of h is supe rvised release --a “G rade C ” viola tion pu rsuan t to US SG § 7B 1.1(a)( 3). A s a resu lt of the se rece nt off ense s, the G over nm ent so ugh t to revoke Arnold’ s second t erm of supervi sed rel ease. At the revoc ation he aring, Arnold agreed to admit t o the Grade C offense of faili ng to info rm h is Prob ation O ffice r abo ut the c harg es, w hile the Go vern men t agree d to ref rain from introdu cing te stimo ny as to the Gra de B offe nses. A rnold ’s Gr ade C offe nse a nd h is criminal history category of IV resulted in a sentencing range of six to twelve months, pursuant to the pol icystatement in USSG § 7B1.4(a). The Distri ct Court s entenced Arnold to twelve months of i ncarcer ation. II. Th e D istrict Co urt h ad s ubj ect m atter juris dicti on p ursu ant to 18 U .S.C . § 35 83( e). We have juris dicti on over the f inal order imposi ng sentencepursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742( a)(4) . In gener al, we will not di sturb a Distri ct Court’ s sente nce for a violation of s upervis ed rele ase pursuant to USSG § 7B1.4(a), unless t he sentenc e was “plain ly unreas onab le.” 18 U.S .C. § 3 742 (a)(4); see also United States v. Bla ckston , 940 F.2d 87 7, 894 (3d Cir. 1991 ).4 III. Bec ause they app ear as “ policy state men ts,” the se ntenc ing ran ges se t forth in US SG § 7B 1.4( a) ar e no t ma nda tory gu ideli nes , but rath er “a dvi sory” ran ges . United States v. Schwegel , 126 F.3d 551, 552 (3d Cir. 1997). I n the pres ent case , theDistri ct Co urt se nten ced Ar nol d to a term wit hin the a ppl icab le ran ge in US SG § 7B 1.4( a). Furth ermo re, the C ourt ca refully co nside red A rnold ’s uniq ue situa tion, inc luding his persi stent

problems wit

h alcoholabuse and his record of criminalacti vity . Under the circumst ances, t

he Court’s sentencerefle cted both the seriousness of the offens es and the need to provi de “str

uctured alcohol c ounseli ng.” App. at 69. Given i ts wellreasoned decisi on, we hold that theDistri ct Court’ s imposi tion of t he maximum sentence wit hin the applic able range in USSG § 7B1.4(a) was not pl ainly unreasonabl e. For th e reaso ns set f orth ab ove, w e w ill affirm the jud gm ent of the D istrict Co urt.5

______________________________ TO THE CLERK OF COU RT: Kindlyfilethe fore going opini on.
By the C ourt,

/s/ Juli o M. Fuentes Circuit Judge