Opinion ID: 615992
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Taylor's Criminal History and Character

Text: Although he raises the argument as an attack on his sentence's reasonableness, Taylor maintains that his sentence does not adequately reflect his role in the conspiracy, absence of criminal history, and rehabilitative prospects. The district court evaluated and declined to apply these factors to reduce the sentence it imposed. It stated in its opinion: [T]he evidence is that the Defendant agreed with others to rob a stash house to obtain drugs, was prepared to carry out the plan, and expected to be successful in the execution of the plan. He was not puffing when he indicated, and then demonstrated, his willingness to obtain the shipment of drugs by force. He anticipated that the stash house would be armed and took this factor into account in his plan, arriving in Fort Wayne with firearms, ammunition, and additional people who were willing to help him carry out the plan. He met with the other conspirators to discuss the details of the plan, including who would enter the stash house and who would stand guard. . . . [T]here are no mitigating factors that suggest a sentence of 188 months is greater than necessary to accomplish the purpose of punishment. The Defendant notes that he participated in the Federal Job Corp Program and was employed at a cabinet company. The Defendant's participation in the Job Corp ended in 2001 as did his employment and [he] does not indicate what he did from 2001 until May 2006 when he conspired to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. . . . The Court does not find the Defendant's vocational training and minimal employment to be a mitigating factor that justifies reducing his sentence. The Defendant's lack of criminal history, which he also points to as a mitigating factor, is already accounted for in his advisory Guideline range and in this Court's imposition of 188 months imprisonment. The district court examined the mitigating evidence that Taylor presented. It incorporated his criminal history into his base Guideline range and afforded no reductive weight to his participation in the conspiracy or history in the Job Corp. Accordingly, it properly considered the sentencing factors as required by § 3553(a) and committed no procedural error. See United States v. Ruzzano, 247 F.3d 688, 699 (7th Cir.2001) (We will not find an abuse of discretion where, as here, the defendant merely disagrees with the weight that the district judge assigned to various mitigating factors.).