Opinion ID: 751894
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Was Nelson properly sentenced?

Text: 92 Nelson argues that the district court did not deduct from his sentence the 45 months he had spent in prison during the trial. He bases this argument on Application Note 3 to § 5G1.3, which states: 93 When a sentence is imposed pursuant to subsection (b), the court should adjust for any term of imprisonment already served as a result of the conduct taken into account in determining the instant sentence (e.g. if the appropriate total punishment determined under this subsection for all offenses is 30 months and the defendant has already served 10 months of the prior undischarged term of imprisonment, the court should impose a sentence of 20 months concurrent with the undischarged term). 94 The district court calculated Nelson's sentencing range under U.S.S.G. 5G1.3(b) (1991 version) to be 168-210 months. The district court imposed a sentence of 150 months. While the district court said that Nelson was not getting credit for the months spent on the case, the court did note that adding 45 months to the 150 month sentence would bring the total sentence to the middle of the 168-210 range. The application note merely commands the district court to adjust for time served; if the district court does make such an adjustment, it is irrelevant how the court chooses to characterize its action. Thus, we hold that the district court did properly adjust for the time Nelson spent in custody during trial. 13 95 Thus, Nelson was properly sentenced. 96