Opinion ID: 2976174
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Presentence reports

Text: The probation office initially prepared a PSR in December of 2005 after Tate pled guilty to the felon-in-possession-of-a-firearm charge. Tate’s criminal history category was calculated to be VI, based on 36 criminal history points. He was assigned a base offense level of 20 because he had a prior felony conviction that qualified under the Sentencing Guidelines as a crime of violence. Two points were added because the firearm was stolen. Three points were then subtracted because Tate had accepted responsibility, which meant that the adjusted total offense level was 19. The PSR calculated the Guidelines range at 63 to 78 months’ imprisonment. In addition to the Guidelines-range calculation, the PSR discussed a possible upward departure under USSG § 4A1.3 “if reliable information indicates that the criminal history category does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the defendant’s past conduct.” The PSR also noted that, of Tate’s 36 criminal history points, 5 were noncountable because the maximum under § 4A1.1(c) (providing a maximum of four points for prior sentences not captured by §§ 4A1.1(a)-(b)) had been reached. No. 06-6529 United States v. Tate Page 3 After Tate’s trial and conviction in August of 2006, the original PSR was revised. The only substantive difference between the revised PSR and the original PSR was that, because Tate had gone to trial, the revised version removed the three-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility. His final offense level was therefore changed to 22, causing the Guidelines range to increase to between 84 and 105 months of imprisonment. The section dealing with a possible upward departure under § 4A1.3 remained the same, as did the recitation of Tate’s criminal history and offender characteristics. In response to the revised PSR, the government filed a sentencing memorandum that requested an upward departure under § 4A1.3, emphasizing that Tate “has almost three times the points necessary to place him in the highest Criminal History Category.” The government also requested that the district court sentence Tate to the statutory maximum of 120 months’ imprisonment based on the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).