Opinion ID: 796140
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Review for reasonableness

Text: 109 Defendant Cloud contends that his thirty-year sentence, which falls at the bottom of the applicable Guidelines range, is unreasonable. We review the sentence imposed by the district court for reasonableness. United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 261, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). We note that a sentence within the guidelines is presumptively reasonable, and the defendant bears the burden of rebutting this presumption. United States v. Williams, 436 F.3d 706, 708 (6th Cir.2006), petition for cert. filed, (U.S. July 11, 2006) (No. 06-5275). In evaluating reasonableness, the focus of our inquiry is on the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Booker, 543 U.S. at 261, 125 S.Ct. 738 (Section 3553(a) remains in effect, and sets forth numerous factors that guide sentencing. Those factors in turn will guide appellate courts, as they have in the past, in determining whether a sentence is unreasonable.). The § 3553(a) factors are: 110 (1) the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant; (2) the need for the sentence to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense; to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant; and to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner; (3) the kinds of sentences available; (4) the appropriate advisory guideline range; (5) any other pertinent policy statement issued by the Sentencing Commission; (6) the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct; and (7) the need to provide restitution to any victims of the offense. 111 United States v. Vonner, 452 F.3d 560, 565 (6th Cir.2006), reh'g en banc granted, (Oct. 12, 2006) (No. 05-5295) (quotation marks omitted) (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)). 112 [A] district court's mandate is to impose `a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes' of section 3553(a)(2). United States v. Foreman, 436 F.3d 638, 644 n. 1 (6th Cir.2006). In order for a sentence to be reasonable, it must be both substantively reasonable and procedurally reasonable. United State v. Collington, 461 F.3d 805, 808 (6th Cir.2006). A sentence is procedurally unreasonable if the district judge fails to `consider' the applicable Guidelines range or neglects to `consider' the other factors listed in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and instead simply selects what the judge deems an appropriate sentence without such required consideration. Id. (citing United States v. Webb, 403 F.3d 373, 383 (6th Cir.2005), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 1110, 163 L.Ed.2d 919 (2006)). Additionally, the district court, in order to facilitate appellate review, must articulate its reason for choosing a particular sentence, and it must specifically address any argument raised by the defendant at sentencing. United States v. Richardson, 437 F.3d 550, 554 (6th Cir.2006). A sentence is substantively unreasonable if the district court select[s] the sentence arbitrarily, bas[es] the sentence on impermissible factors, fail[s] to consider pertinent § 3553(a) factors or giv[es] an unreasonable amount of weight to any pertinent factor. Collington, 461 F.3d at 808 (citing Webb, 403 F.3d at 375) (alternations in original). 113 Defendant Cloud makes three arguments in support of his claim that his sentence is unreasonable. First, Defendant Cloud argues that the district court failed to properly articulate its consideration of the § 3553(a) factors. Second, Defendant Cloud argues that the failure of the district court to consider the disparity between the punishment for crack cocaine versus powder cocaine renders his sentence unreasonable. Finally, Defendant Cloud argues that the fact that the jury attributed a higher drug quantity to him than to Defendants Caver or Abdullah makes his sentence unreasonable. 17 We address each argument in turn. 114 A review of the record indicates that the district court gave a thorough explanation of its reasons for selecting Defendant Cloud's sentence. The court explained that Defendant Cloud was a young man with a long criminal history. He had two juvenile convictions and six adult convictions, four of which were felonies, and most of which were drug-related. Defendant Cloud was also deemed a career offender, because he was released from prison, but continued to engage in serious criminal conduct. J.A. at 2066-67. The district court found that Defendant Cloud was a high risk to the community, that he had a potential for recidivism, and that the jury had found him more culpable than Defendants Caver and Abdullah. The district court also noted the seriousness of the charge. Nevertheless, the district court considered the high end of the Guidelines range inappropriate, and instead sentenced Defendant Cloud to the bottom of the range, 360 months. The district court found that 360 months is appropriate to meet the goals of punishment, deterrence, and safety to the community. J.A. at 2067. The court clearly considered the § 3553(a) factors. This record indicates that Defendant Cloud's sentence is reasonable. 115 Defendant Cloud's second argument is that the 100:1 crack cocaine ratio—that is, the fact that a given weight of crack cocaine (e.g., 500 grams of crack cocaine) carries the same Guidelines sentencing level as 100 times that amount of powder cocaine (e.g., 50,000 grams of powder cocaine) 18 —is no longer reasonable under Booker. Defendant Cloud points to nothing about the particular facts of his case that make his sentence unreasonable; rather, he argues that, post- Booker, the 100:1 ratio is per se unreasonable. We disagree. Defendant Cloud, in effect, asks this court to not find his sentence unreasonable, as we are authorized to do by Booker, 543 U.S. at 261, 125 S.Ct. 738, but rather to declare a portion of the Sentencing Guidelines unreasonable under all circumstances. Were we to act upon Defendant Cloud's suggestion, we would essentially be exercising legislative power. Booker does not authorize this. See United States v. Wallace, 458 F.3d 606, 611 (7th Cir.2006) (Only after computing the guidelines range using the correct 100:1 ratio does the district judge have discretion to impose a sentence that is above or below that range . . . . [R]easonableness is something that must be assessed at retail; wholesale conclusions that are nothing but disagreements with the guidelines are impermissible.). Thus, while a departure from the 100:1 ratio may well be reasonable in a particular case, applying the ratio does not, ipso facto, make a sentence unreasonable under existing case law. This is so even though we as a panel might disagree with the 100:1 ratio or the rationale for it. Because Defendant Cloud has not demonstrated that the 100:1 ratio was unreasonable in his case, his challenge to his sentence on this ground must fail. 116 Defendant Cloud's final argument is that his sentence is unreasonable because the jury attributed a higher quantity of drugs to him than to Defendants Caver or Abdullah. This argument lacks merit. The simple answer is that the evidence presented at trial was not inconsistent with the jury's verdict. A rational jury could have easily determined from the evidence at trial that the quantity of drugs attributable to Defendant Cloud was greater than that attributable to Defendants Caver or Abdullah. This court will not set aside a verdict supported by the evidence, which is what Defendant Cloud is in effect asking us to do. Thus, the fact that the jury attributed more drugs to Defendant Cloud does not provide a basis for finding Defendant Cloud's sentence unreasonable.