Opinion ID: 791972
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Statement of Reasons

Text: 19 Under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e), a sentencing court may, after considering a variety of factors set forth in § 3553(a) — including any relevant policy statements issued by the United States Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 994(a)(3), see 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(4)(B) — revoke a defendant's term of supervised release and require the defendant to serve a term of imprisonment, if the court first determines that the defendant violated the terms of his or her supervised release. A court must revoke a defendant's supervised release in some circumstances, including when the defendant possesses a controlled substance or tests positive for an illegal controlled substance more than three times over the course of a year. See 18 U.S.C. § 3583(g). Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d), however, a court may carve out an exception to § 3583(g) where a substance abuse program is available and appropriate. Wirth, 250 F.3d at 170. 20 If a court revokes a defendant's term of supervised release under either 18 U.S.C. §§ 3583(e) or (g), the court may not impose a term of imprisonment greater than five years if the underlying offense that led to the supervised release term was a Class A felony. By comparison, the maximum is three years for a Class B felony, two years for a Class C or D felony, and one year in all other cases. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 3583(e)(3), 3583(g). And, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 994(a)(3), the Sentencing Commission has issued policy statements about the revocation of supervised release that classify violations, see U.S.S.G. § 7B1.1, and recommend corresponding terms of imprisonment, see U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4; see also Fleming, 397 F.3d at 98. For a defendant such as Lewis, who committed a Class A felony and then a Grade C supervised release violation and had a criminal history category of I, the recommended imprisonment range is three to nine months, with a statutory maximum of five years. See U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4 (table); 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3). 21 And, 22 [a]lthough a district court, in sentencing a defendant for a violation of supervised release, is directed to consider the non-binding policy statements found in Chapter Seven of the Guidelines Manual [including section 7B1.4], the court ultimately has broad discretion to revoke its previous sentence and impose a term of imprisonment up to the statutory maximum. 23 United States v. Pelensky, 129 F.3d 63, 69 (2d Cir.1997) (quoting United States v. Sweeney, 90 F.3d 55, 57 (2d Cir.1996)). 24