Opinion ID: 42652
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Blakemore's Reasonableness Challenge

Text: 20 Blakemore argues that his sentence is unreasonable because the district court failed to give proper weight to his youthfulness and lack of prior criminal history. The district court properly calculated a guideline range of twenty-four to thirty months. After extensively discussing the factors it considered in arriving at a sentence, including Blakemore's age and lack of prior criminal experience, the district court sentenced Blakemore to twenty-four months imprisonment. This court presumes that Blakemore's sentence, which is within the properly calculated guideline range, is reasonable. Alonzo, 435 F.3d at 553-54. Blakemore has failed to overcome this presumption. 21 Blakemore pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally acquire firearms. His overt acts included the acquisition of twenty-four handguns, which were then transported from Louisiana to New Jersey and sold outside the legal firearms market. The transcript shows that the district court gave considerable attention to Blakemore's specific characteristics, even going so far as to compliment Blakemore on his work history, his cooperativeness, and not previously having been in trouble with the law. In its discretion, the district court properly counterbalanced Blakemore's mitigating characteristics with the seriousness of the charged offense, as required by 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). As such, the district court did not unreasonably sentence Blakemore to twenty-four months imprisonment, the low-end of the properly calculated guideline range.