Court Opinion

ID: 9958834
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-10 00:00:33.604587+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:17:44.422864
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-11021            Document: 51-1         Page: 1      Date Filed: 04/09/2024

           United States Court of Appeals
                for the Fifth Circuit
                                   ____________
                                                                             United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                      Fifth Circuit
                                    No. 23-11021
                                  Summary Calendar                                   FILED
                                  ____________                                     April 9, 2024
                                                                               Lyle W. Cayce
United States of America,                                                           Clerk

                                                                    Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                          versus

Ronald Jones,

                                            Defendant—Appellant.
                   ______________________________

                   Appeal from the United States District Court
                       for the Northern District of Texas
                             USDC No. 3:23-CR-84-1
                   ______________________________

Before King, Haynes, and Graves, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam: *
       Ronald Jones challenges the above-guidelines sentence of 120 months
of imprisonment imposed following his guilty plea conviction for bank
robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). He asserts that the district court
abused its discretion by imposing a substantively unreasonable sentence
based on its failure to properly consider the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing

       _____________________
       *
           This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-11021        Document: 51-1        Page: 2    Date Filed: 04/09/2024

                                  No. 23-11021

factors, including the nature and circumstances of the offense, the need to
avoid disparate sentences among similarly situated defendants, and the
history and characteristics of the defendant.
       In determining the substantive reasonableness of a sentence, this
court considers the totality of the circumstances, including the extent of the
upward variance from the guidelines range, giving due deference to the
district court’s decision that the § 3553(a) factors justify the variance. United
States v. Fraga, 704 F.3d 432, 440 (5th Cir. 2013). “A non-Guideline
sentence unreasonably fails to reflect the statutory sentencing factors where
it (1) does not account for a factor that should have received significant
weight, (2) gives significant weight to an irrelevant or improper factor, or
(3) represents a clear error of judgment in balancing the sentencing factors.”
United States v. Smith, 440 F.3d 704, 708 (5th Cir. 2006).
       The record reflects that the district court considered the guidelines
range, the § 3553(a) factors, the parties’ sentencing memoranda, and
arguments made by counsel during sentencing. When determining Jones’s
sentence, the district court declined to impose the full extent of upward
variant sentence requested by the Government, but it indicated that an
upward variant sentence was warranted based on the seriousness, length, and
repetitiveness of Jones’s criminal history, the likelihood he would recidivate,
and to afford adequate deterrence and protect the public from further crimes.
See id. at 709 (indicating that an extensive criminal history is a factor that the
district court is permitted to consider). Given the significant deference that
is due a district court’s consideration of the § 3553(a) factors and considering
the totality of the circumstances, Jones has not shown that his 120-month
sentence is substantively unreasonable. See Gall v. United States, 552 U.S.
38, 51 (2007).
       AFFIRMED.

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