Court Opinion

ID: 9480614
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:53:24.794315+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:47:48.126198
License: Public Domain

BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring and dissenting:
The remarks of the district court at sentencing, which are the basis for the remand, are really nothing more than a repetition of statements found in United States v. White, 875 F.2d 427 (4th Cir.1989), and the Sentencing Guidelines.
In White we said:
As recently stated by the Second Circuit, “disputes about applicable guidelines need not be resolved where the sentence falls within either of two arguably applicable guideline ranges and the same sentence would have been imposed under either guideline range.”
875 F.2d at 432 (quoting United States v. Bermingham, 855 F.2d 925, 931 (2d Cir.\1988)). Also, the district court’s remarks are consistent with the policy statement concerning sentencing tables in the Sentencing Guidelines: .
The Commission has established a sentencing table. For technical and practical reasons it has 43 levels. Each row in the table contains levels that overlap with the levels in the preceding and succeeding rows. By overlapping the levels, the table should discourage unnecessary litigation. Both prosecutor and defendant will realize that the difference between one level and another will not necessarily make a difference in the sentence that the judge imposes. Thus, little purpose will be served in protracted litigation trying to determine, for example, whether $10,000 or $11,000 was obtained as a result of a fraud.
U.S.S.G. Ch. 1, Part A, Introduction 4(h), p.s. In this case the district court pointed out that because of the overlapping levels, little purpose would be served in determining the exact amount of drugs involved.
Of course, the district court must disclose that the sentence would have been the same regardless of the overlap. See White, 875 F.2d at 432-33. And this is precisely what the court did. The court considered many other factors besides the overlapping offense levels of 26 and 28. It reduced the potential sentence of 168 *784months to the actual sentence of 87 months by granting two levels for acceptance of responsibility and four levels for substantial cooperation with the Government. It denied the defendant’s request for a downward departure on the basis of post-indictment rehabilitation. It also compared the defendant’s sentence with that of another member of the conspiracy who was sentenced to 108 months.
Finally, after discussing all of the factors that entered into the sentence, including the overlapping guideline ranges, the court reiterated that it made no difference whether the base level is computed to be 26 or 28 “because I think you deserve the 87 months.”
In my view, the district court fully complied with the principles stated in United States v. White and the policy statement of the guidelines.
Moreover, it is readily apparent from the record that the Government did not violate its obligation under the plea agreement to recommend that the court sentence at the lower end of the appropriate guideline range. The Government never agreed that the level sought by the defendant was appropriate.
I concur with the court’s disposition in the defendant’s other assignments of error. Dissenting on the sentencing issue, I would affirm the judgment of the district court.