Opinion ID: 2976812
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Time Spent in State Custody for Same Conduct

Text: Sylvester’s second contention concerning the procedural reasonableness of his sentence is that the district judge failed to consider the time Sylvester had spent in state custody for the same conduct. This arguments also lacks merit. As with Sylvester’s pre-indictment delay argument, the judge offered no specific analysis of the defendant’s state custody argument. During the sentencing hearing, however, defense counsel, in response to the district judge’s expressed concerns about Sylvester’s positive drug test on December 11, 2006, described Sylvester’s state of mind upon learning that the firearm offense was a separate crime under federal law and that the time Sylvester had spent in state custody could be supplemented by a separate prosecution, conviction, and sentence in the federal court system. JA 109-110. In other words, Sylvester presented this factor for the judge’s consideration in the context of an effort to explain the circumstances surrounding the defendant’s recent drug use, and it is in that context that the judge considered the argument. 5 The judge seems to have misstated the reference points of the delay, commenting that the conduct occurred a “couple of years” before the revocation of the defendant’s parole rather than several months before the federal government brought charges. However, this misstatement should not affect the analysis of whether the district court considered the time lapse and rejected it as mitigating factor warranting leniency. 8 United States v. Sylvester 07-1251 Of primary importance among the judge’s reasons for imposing a sixty-month sentence was Sylvester’s positive drug test while on bond and Sylvester’s vehement denial, which the court considered “especially egregious.” JA 116. The court emphasized Sylvester’s “persistent association with drugs” and recommended as part of his sentence that Sylvester receive intensive substance abuse treatment during his incarceration. JA 117. In addition, the judge gave the following reasons for the sentence: the need to provide just punishment and an adequate deterrence to criminal activity; the need to protect the public; and the duty to provide the defendant with medical, educational, and correctional treatment. As to this last factor, the judge recommended that Sylvester be afforded opportunities for vocational training during his term of imprisonment. Given the context in which the judge considered Sylvester’s argument concerning time already spent in state custody and the counterbalancing weight the judge attached to the other sentencing factors, the district court committed no plain error.