Opinion ID: 773736
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The District Court's Calculation of Skidmore's Sentence Under the Sentencing Guidelines

Text: 21 Skidmore also challenges his sentence by asserting that the district court's use of U.S.S.G. sections 4B1.4(b)(3)(A) and (c)(2) to increase his sentence violated his due process rights in light of Apprendi. Skidmore was sentenced as an armed career criminal pursuant to section 4B1.4 because his three prior violent felony convictions rendered him subject to an enhanced sentence under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. sec. 924(e). U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual sec. 4B1.4(a) (1998). At Skidmore's sentencing hearing, the district court determined that Skidmore had been in possession of a silencer. Because this silencer was a type of firearm described in 26 U.S.C. sec. 5845(a)(7), U.S.S.G. sections 4B1.4(b)(3)(A) and (c)(2) required Skidmore's base level offense to be set at 34 and his criminal history category to be set at VI. 6 This combination resulted in a sentencing range of 262-327 months. The court proceeded to sentence Skidmore to 262 months, the low end of this range. 22 Skidmore argues that the increase in his sentence provided for by sections 4B1.4(b)(3)(A) and (c)(2) is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court's decisions in Apprendi and Castillo v. United States, 530 U.S. 120, 120 S. Ct. 2090, 147 L. Ed. 2d 94 (2000). 7 According to Skidmore, these guideline sections impermissibly increased his sentence based on the district court's determination, by a preponderance of the evidence, that he possessed a specific type of firearm described in 26 U.S.C. sec. 5845(a). Skidmore contends that Apprendi and Castillo mandate that whether he possessed a silencer is a fact that should have been presented to the jury and found beyond a reasonable doubt. We do not agree. 23 We certainly recognize, as other circuits have observed, that four dissenting justices in Apprendi expressed concern that the principle that they understood underlies the majority's ruling threatened the validity of fact- finding by a sentencing judge in applying the Sentencing Guidelines. United States v. Garcia, 240 F.3d 180, 183 (2d Cir. 2001). Indeed, one member of the Apprendi majority intimated in a footnote that Apprendi's reasoning might extend to fact-finding for purposes of the Sentencing Guidelines. Id. at 183-84. We have concluded, however, along with every other circuit to consider this issue, that a district court may make various factual determinations under the guidelines, thereby affecting a defendant's sentence, so long as such determinations do not cause the defendant's sentence to exceed the prescribed statutory maximum for that crime. See Talbott v. Indiana, 226 F.3d 866, 869 (7th Cir. 2000) (Apprendi does not affect application of the relevant-conduct rules under the Sentencing Guidelines to sentences that fall within a statutory cap.); accord United States v. Robinson, 241 F.3d 115, 119 (1st Cir. 2001); United States v. Garcia, 240 F.3d at 184; United States v. Williams, 235 F.3d 858, 863 (3d Cir. 2000); United States v. Obi, 239 F.3d 662, 667 (4th Cir. 2001); United States v. Miranda, 248 F.3d 434, 444 (5th Cir. 2001); United States v. Munoz, 233 F.3d 410, 414 (6th Cir. 2000); United States v. Aguayo- Delgado, 220 F.3d 926, 934 (8th Cir. 2000); United States v. Hernandez- Guardado, 228 F.3d 1017, 1027 (9th Cir. 2000); United States v. Wilson, 244 F.3d 1208, 1215-16 (10th Cir. 2001); United States v. Nealy, 232 F.3d 825, 829 (11th Cir. 2000); In Re: Sealed Case, 246 F.3d 696, 699 (D.C. Cir. 2001). The statutory maximum for Skidmore's conviction was life imprisonment. Because Skidmore's sentence was within this maximum, we dismiss his claim that the district court's factual findings under the sentencing guidelines improperly increased his sentence under Apprendi. As we explained in Talbott, when the statutory maximum is life imprisonment, Apprendi is beside the point. Talbott, 226 F.3d at 869.