Court Opinion

ID: 9945985
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-28 21:00:45.437478+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:24:12.111584
License: Public Domain

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                                             UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                               No. 23-4365

        UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                             Plaintiff - Appellee,

                      v.

        WILLIAM EDWARD MADDOX, JR., a/k/a Unc,

                             Defendant - Appellant.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, at
        Wheeling. John Preston Bailey, District Judge. (5:23-cr-00009-JPB-JPM-1)

        Submitted: February 22, 2024                                 Decided: February 27, 2024

        Before NIEMEYER and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

        Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        ON BRIEF: Brian J. Kornbrath, Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL
        PUBLIC DEFENDER, Clarksburg, West Virginia, for Appellant. Carly Cordaro Nogay,
        OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Wheeling, West Virginia, for
        Appellee.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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        PER CURIAM:

               William Edward Maddox, Jr., pled guilty, pursuant to a written plea agreement, to

        possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.

        § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). The district court sentenced Maddox to 188 months’ imprisonment.

        On appeal, counsel has filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967),

        stating that there are no meritorious grounds for appeal but questioning whether Maddox’s

        sentence is reasonable. Although informed of his right to do so and receiving extensions

        of time to file, Maddox has not filed a pro se supplemental brief, and the Government has

        elected not to file a brief. We affirm.

               We review “all sentences—whether inside, just outside, or significantly outside the

        [Sentencing] Guidelines range—under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.” United

        States v. Torres-Reyes, 952 F.3d 147, 151 (4th Cir. 2020) (internal quotation marks

        omitted). In conducting this review, we must first ensure that the sentence is procedurally

        reasonable, “consider[ing] whether the district court properly calculated the defendant’s

        advisory [G]uidelines range, gave the parties an opportunity to argue for an appropriate

        sentence, considered the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors, and sufficiently explained the

        selected sentence.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). If the sentence is free of

        “significant procedural error,” we then review it for substantive reasonableness, “tak[ing]

        into account the totality of the circumstances.” Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51

        (2007). A sentence must be “sufficient, but not greater than necessary,” to satisfy the

        statutory purposes of sentencing. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). “Any sentence that is within or

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        below a properly calculated Guidelines range is presumptively [substantively] reasonable.”

        United States v. Louthian, 756 F.3d 295, 306 (4th Cir. 2014).

               Here, the district court correctly calculated Maddox’s advisory Guidelines range,

        heard argument from counsel, provided Maddox an opportunity to allocute, considered the

        § 3553(a) sentencing factors, and explained its reasons for imposing the chosen sentence.

        Because Maddox has not demonstrated that his term of imprisonment “is unreasonable

        when measured against the . . . § 3553(a) factors,” he has failed to rebut the presumption

        of reasonableness accorded his within-Guidelines sentence. Id. We therefore conclude

        that Maddox’s sentence is both procedurally and substantively reasonable.

               In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the entire record in this case and have

        found no meritorious grounds for appeal. We therefore affirm the district court’s judgment.

        This court requires that counsel inform Maddox, in writing, of the right to petition the

        Supreme Court of the United States for further review. If Maddox requests that a petition

        be filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then counsel may

        move in this court for leave to withdraw from representation. Counsel’s motion must state

        that a copy thereof was served on Maddox. We dispense with oral argument because the

        facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and

        argument would not aid the decisional process.

                                                                                      AFFIRMED

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