Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Clay Jarrad KIRKLAND, also known as Clay Jarrod Kirkland, Defendant-Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2012-09-28
Citations: 479 F. App'x 650
Docket Number: No. 11-11159
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Clay Jarrad KIRKLAND, also known as Clay Jarrod Kirkland, Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: Before KING, CLEMENT, and HIGGINSON, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 479
Pages: 650–651

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Clay Jarrad KIRKLAND, also known as Clay Jarrod Kirkland, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 11-11159
Summary Calendar.
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
Sept. 28, 2012.
Nancy E. Larson, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas Fort Worth, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
James Warren St. John, Esq., Fort Worth, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.
Before KING, CLEMENT, and HIGGINSON, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM:
Clay Jarrad Kirkland appeals the within-guidelines 235-month sentence and the consecutive 60-month sentence imposed following his guilty-plea convictions for possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Kirkland argues that the sentences are cruel and unusual in violation of the Eighth Amendment because they are grossly disproportionate to the severity of the offenses committed.
Because Kirkland failed to object on this ground in the district court, review is for plain error. See United States v. Howard, 220 F.3d 645, 647 (5th Cir.2000). In comparison to the life sentence imposed in Rummel v. Estelle, 445 U.S. 263, 100 S.Ct. 1133, 63 L.Ed.2d 382 (1980), on a nonviolent criminal pursuant to a recidivist statute, and the 30-year sentence imposed in United States v. Gonzales, 121 F.3d 928, 943-44 (5th Cir.1997), abrogated on other grounds by United States v. O'Brien, — U.S. —, —, 130 S.Ct. 2169, 2180, 176 L.Ed.2d 979 (2010), on a non-habitual offender convicted of using or carrying a firearm during a drug-trafficking offense, the within-guidelines sentences imposed on Kirkland are not grossly disproportionate to his offenses. See Gonzales, 121 F.3d at 943; McGruder v. Puckett, 954 F.2d 313, 316 (5th Cir.1992).
Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.
Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.