Opinion ID: 778749
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Guidelines Calculations and the Statutory Maxima

Text: 56 Campbell contends that his 30-year sentences on the conspiracy and substantive robbery counts exceed the statutory maxima for those offenses. He also complains that the PSR, relied on by the district court, misstated his adjusted and total offense levels and, independently of that error, invoked the wrong Guidelines range. These contentions have some merit. We address them in reverse order. 57 First, the PSR calculated that Campbell's total offense level was 38, that his criminal history category was IV (which is undisputed), and that the prescribed Guidelines range of imprisonment was therefore 360 months to life. The correct Guidelines range for that offense level and criminal history category, however, is 324 to 405 months. 58 Second, the government concedes that the PSR's conclusion as to Campbell's adjusted and total offense levels was also incorrect. The PSR initially calculated that his adjusted offense level was 31, the highest level for any one of his offenses. However, in an apparent clerical error, the PSR later copied the adjusted offense level figure as 33 rather than 31. This error, after the PSR's addition of five steps pursuant to Guidelines § 3D1.4 in grouping Campbell's offenses, gave him a total offense level of 38 rather than 36. The imprisonment range prescribed by the Guidelines for the correct offense level of 36, with a criminal history category IV, is 262 to 327 months. 59 Finally, the district court sentenced Campbell to concurrent prison terms of 360 months (30 years) on the conspiracy charge and each of the seven substantive armed robbery counts, stating that those terms were subject, of course, to the statutory limitations with respect to the specific counts. (S.Tr.20.) The statutory maximum for conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 371 is five years (60 months), and the statutory maximum for each of the § 2114 postal robbery counts and the § 2113 bank robbery counts is 25 years (300 months). None of the counts of conviction carried a statutory maximum as high as 360 months. 60 Campbell asks us to amend the judgment to reflect concurrent 25-year sentences, rather than 30-year sentences, on the substantive robbery counts, which would reduce his overall sentence from 155 to 150 years. The government urges us instead to remand to the district court for resentencing, pointing out that under Guidelines § 5G1.2(b), the sentencing judge determines the total punishment to be imposed by selecting an appropriate punishment within the Guidelines range, see, e.g., United States v. McLeod, 251 F.3d 78, 83 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 122 S.Ct. 304, 151 L.Ed.2d 226 (2001), and reasoning that it is within the court's power to sentence Campbell to up to 327 months (the top of the correct Guidelines range) by imposing concurrent sentences of 300 months on all but one robbery count, and one consecutive sentence of up to 27 months on the remaining robbery count. Given the plethora of errors in the calculation or pronouncement of Campbell's sentence, we conclude that it is preferable to remand to the district court for the imposition of a clear sentence that is correctly calculated under the Guidelines and does not exceed any statutory maximum, with the eventual sentence again accompanied by an explicit instruction that the Bureau of Prisons must release Campbell after he has served 50 years in prison.