Court Opinion

ID: 9378077
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-09 17:00:32.536895+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:18.855220
License: Public Domain

United States Court of Appeals
                            For the Eighth Circuit
                        ___________________________

                                No. 22-2823
                        ___________________________

                            United States of America

                                     Plaintiff - Appellee

                                        v.

                         Christopher Tyrone White, Jr.

                                   Defendant - Appellant
                                 ____________

                    Appeal from United States District Court
                  for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Central
                                 ____________

                          Submitted: January 13, 2023
                             Filed: March 9, 2023
                                [Unpublished]
                                ____________

Before GRASZ, MELLOY, and KOBES, Circuit Judges.
                           ____________

PER CURIAM.

       Christopher White, Jr. pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a
firearm, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The district court1 sentenced him to 54 months in

      1
       The Honorable Lee P. Rudofsky, United States District Judge for the
Eastern District of Arkansas.
prison, varying 17 months upward from the top end of the Guidelines range. We
affirm White’s sentence.

       White challenges the reasonableness of his sentence, which we review for an
abuse of discretion. United States v. Petersen, 848 F.3d 1153, 1157 (8th Cir. 2017).
The district court imposed a two-level enhancement for “recklessly creat[ing] a
substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another person in the course of
fleeing from a law enforcement officer.” U.S.S.G. § 3C1.2. Along with the
enhancement, the district court varied upward, citing, among other things, the
dangerousness of White’s offense. Because the enhancement already accounted for
the dangerousness of the offense, White says that the district court abused its
discretion by assigning significant weight to the same conduct to justify the variance.
See United States v. Obi, 25 F.4th 574, 581 (8th Cir. 2022). We disagree.

       A district court may impose a variance based on factors used to calculate the
Guidelines range, and it has wide discretion to weigh some factors more heavily than
others. Id. at 581−82. Here, the district court imposed the variance to reflect the
seriousness of White’s offense, protect the public, and deter White and others from
acting as White did here. White’s conviction arose out of a dangerous encounter
with the public and police. He was loading a shotgun in a shopping center parking
lot. When an officer approached, White pushed the officer, causing him to fall into
White’s car. As the officer tried to take White into custody, White resisted and
started to drive away, across the parking lot, with the officer in the car trying to
restrain him. White’s criminal record also shows that he has a history of fleeing
from the police, casting doubt on his ability to follow the law. All things considered,
the district court did not abuse its discretion, and we affirm.
                         ______________________________

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