USCA11 Case: 22-10742    Document: 62-1     Date Filed: 07/16/2024   Page: 1 of 9




                                                            [PUBLISH]
                                   In the
                United States Court of Appeals
                        For the Eleventh Circuit

                          ____________________

                                No. 22-10742
                          ____________________

       UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
                                                      Plaintiff-Appellee,
       versus
       HENRY MARTIN STEIGER,
       a.k.a. Henry Matthew Steiger,
       a.k.a. H M Steiger,
       a.k.a. Robert Woods,


                                                  Defendant-Appellant.


                          ____________________

                 Appeal from the United States District Court
                     for the Northern District of Florida
USCA11 Case: 22-10742       Document: 62-1       Date Filed: 07/16/2024       Page: 2 of 9




       2                        Opinion of the Court                    22-10742

                        D.C. Docket No. 3:17-cr-00043-RV-2
                             ____________________

       Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judge, and
       COOGLER,* District Judge.
       COOGLER, District Judge:
              This case returns to this panel on remand from the en banc
       Court with instructions to consider the Appellant’s additional ar-
       guments that we were not able to review in the first instance. See
       United States v. Steiger, 

, 1327 (11th Cir. 2024) (en banc).
       After careful consideration, we conclude that the Appellant, Henry
       Martin Steiger, has not demonstrated that the district court plainly
       erred in imposing a sentence of 20 years of imprisonment follow-
       ing the revocation of his probation pursuant to 

.
       Accordingly, we affirm Steiger’s sentence.
                                 I. BACKGROUND
              We described the factual and procedural history of this case
       in our prior panel opinion, United States v. Steiger, 

, 934–
       36 (11th Cir. 2023), vacated, 

 (11th Cir. 2023), and re-
       manded en banc, 

 (11th Cir. 2024). To summarize, Stei-
       ger pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire
       fraud and three counts of wire fraud, and the district court sen-
       tenced him to three years of probation. Two months into his


       * Honorable L. Scott Coogler, United States District Judge for the Northern
       District of Alabama, sitting by designation.
USCA11 Case: 22-10742      Document: 62-1     Date Filed: 07/16/2024     Page: 3 of 9




       3                      Opinion of the Court                 22-10742

       probation sentence, Steiger murdered the mother of his infant
       child on the child’s first birthday. After he was convicted of second-
       degree murder in Florida state court, the district court held a hear-
       ing to revoke Steiger’s probation and to resentence him on the fed-
       eral conspiracy and wire fraud offenses. At the revocation hearing,
       the district court heard evidence that Steiger strangled his victim to
       death while she was holding his infant daughter and then stowed
       the victim’s body in a 55-gallon barrel. Law enforcement discovered
       her decomposing body six months later. Steiger’s business associate
       told law enforcement that Steiger planned the murder and that he
       helped Steiger move the barrel into a trailer and dispose of the
       woman’s iPad and iPod. Steiger admitted to hiding the body and
       lying to law enforcement when questioned about the woman’s dis-
       appearance initially, but he maintained that he did not commit
       murder. He claimed that the woman died by suicide and that he,
       fearful that he would lose custody of his daughter, attempted to
       “cover [his] tracks more like a guilty person.”
              The district court found that Steiger violated the terms of
       his probation and revoked it. The government argued that the Sen-
       tencing Guidelines range of 12 to 18 months’ imprisonment
       grossly understated the egregiousness of Steiger’s conduct while
       on federal probation and emphasized that the district court could
       sentence Steiger to the statutory maximum sentence of 20 years'
       imprisonment on each of the four counts for a total of 80 years’
       imprisonment. Steiger requested that he be sentenced to time
       served in light of his lifetime imprisonment sentence in the state
       case. The district court imposed a sentence of 20 years’
USCA11 Case: 22-10742      Document: 62-1      Date Filed: 07/16/2024     Page: 4 of 9




       4                      Opinion of the Court                  22-10742

       imprisonment on each count to run concurrently with each other
       and with the life sentence imposed by the Florida court in the sec-
       ond-degree murder case. When the district court asked whether
       Steiger had any objections to the sentence imposed, Steiger an-
       swered no.
              Steiger appealed, arguing that the district court’s sentence is
       procedurally and substantively unreasonable. We construed one of
       his procedural unreasonableness arguments to be that the district
       court failed to give a specific reason for imposing an upward vari-
       ance to the statutory maximum sentence, thereby violating 

(c)(2), which requires the district court to “state in
       open court . . . the specific reason for the imposition of a sentence”
       when that sentence is outside the guidelines range. See Steiger, 83
       F.4th at 937. Because this Court’s precedents required automatic
       reversal for any § 3553(c) error, we were forced to reverse and re-
       mand to the district court for an explanation of why it chose 20
       years. See id. at 938 (citing United States v. Parks, 

       (11th Cir. 2016)). This was so even though Steiger did not object to
       the district court’s failure to explain its reasons and even though we
       thought it obvious that the district court varied upward due to the
       horrific crime Steiger committed while on probation. See 

              Chief Judge Pryor wrote separately, concurring in this
       panel’s application of this Court’s precedents but urging this Court
       to rehear this appeal en banc to reconsider United States v. Parks be-
       cause that case “requires a ‘per se rule of reversal for [section]
       3553(c)(2) errors’ even when the defendant never objected to the
USCA11 Case: 22-10742       Document: 62-1      Date Filed: 07/16/2024      Page: 5 of 9




       5                       Opinion of the Court                   22-10742

       explanation of his sentence in the district court.” Steiger, 83 F.4th at
       938 (Pryor, C.J., concurring) (quoting Parks, 823 F.3d at 996–97).
              The Court reheard this appeal en banc and held that when a
       defendant does not object to a district court’s failure to explain its
       sentence in violation of § 3553(c), plain error review applies on ap-
       peal, not automatic reversal, thereby overruling Parks and other
       precedents to the extent they conflicted with the Court’s en banc
       holding. Steiger, 99 F.4th at 1324. The en banc Court further held
       that the district court did not commit plain error in failing to ex-
       plain the upward variance because its reasons were clear by exam-
       ining the record of the revocation proceeding. Id. at 1327. The en
       banc Court then remanded the case to this panel to consider Stei-
       ger’s additional arguments.
                         II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW
               When reviewing the reasonableness of a sentence, this
       Court conducts a two-step inquiry. Gall v. United States, 

 (2007). First, the Court considers whether the sentence is proce-
       durally reasonable, and if it is, the Court examines whether it is
       substantively reasonable in light of the totality of the circum-
       stances. 

 This Court reviews the reasonableness of a sentence
       “under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.” 

. But if
       a defendant fails to object at sentencing to the reasonableness of
       the sentence imposed by the district court, this Court reviews for
       plain error. United States v. Vandergrift, 

 (11th Cir.
       2014). Thus, in order to prevail on appeal, a defendant must estab-
       lish “(1) that the district court erred; (2) that the error was ‘plain’;
USCA11 Case: 22-10742       Document: 62-1      Date Filed: 07/16/2024      Page: 6 of 9




       6                       Opinion of the Court                   22-10742

       and (3) that the error ‘affect[ed his] substantial rights.’” 

 (quoting
       United States v. Olano, 

 (1993)). If all three con-
       ditions are met, we then decide whether the error seriously affected
       the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.
       

                                 III. DISCUSSION
               First, Steiger argues that his sentence is procedurally unrea-
       sonable because the district court did not properly consider the
       guidelines range of 12 to 18 months of imprisonment or the 

(a) factors. He also contends that the court should
       have addressed his request for a time served sentence. Our review
       is for plain error because Steiger did not object below. See Vander-
       grift, 

.
               A district court commits a “significant procedural error” in
       imposing a sentence if it fails to calculate the guidelines range, cal-
       culates the range incorrectly, or fails to consider the § 3553(a) fac-
       tors. Gall, 

. However, “the district court is not required
       to state on the record that it has explicitly considered each of the
       § 3553(a) factors or to discuss each of the § 3553(a) factors.” United
       States v. Sanchez, 

 (11th Cir. 2009) (quotation omit-
       ted). Rather, it is “sufficient that the district court considers the de-
       fendant’s arguments at sentencing and states that it has taken the
       § 3553(a) factors into account.” Id. Similarly for the guidelines
       range, all that is required is that “there be some indication that the
       district court was aware of and considered the Guidelines, which
       requires the court to consider the sentencing range established
USCA11 Case: 22-10742      Document: 62-1     Date Filed: 07/16/2024     Page: 7 of 9




       7                      Opinion of the Court                 22-10742

       under the Guidelines.” United States v. Campbell, 

       (11th Cir. 2007) (emphasis, citation, and internal quotation marks
       omitted).
               Here, the district judge stated that he had “fully considered
       all of the factors set out in Title 18, United States Code, Sec-
       tion 3553(a), as well as the applicable guidelines and policy state-
       ments from the United States Sentencing Commission and the de-
       cisions of the courts about sentencing under these circumstances.”
       The district judge also stated that he had carefully considered the
       issues presented in the underlying case, the evidence presented at
       the revocation hearing, and the statements Steiger made in his de-
       fense. The evidence presented at the revocation hearing obviously
       concerned “the nature and circumstances of the offense”—one of
       the § 3553(a) factors. See 

(a)(1). And although the
       district judge did not specifically reiterate that the guidelines range
       was 12 to 18 months’ imprisonment, both parties referred to the
       range in their arguments at the hearing. Although Steiger re-
       quested that he be sentenced to time served, the government ar-
       gued that the guidelines sentence was inadequate considering the
       seriousness of Steiger’s probation violation. Thus, it is clear from
       the record and the district judge’s own statements that he was
       aware of and considered the guidelines range. This case is thus un-
       like Campbell, where this Court was unable to review a sentence
       imposed upon revocation of supervised release because “the dis-
       trict court never explicitly mentioned Campbell’s advisory Guide-
       lines range during the revocation hearing” and in fact “never said
       the word ‘Guidelines’ during the entire hearing.” 

.
USCA11 Case: 22-10742      Document: 62-1       Date Filed: 07/16/2024     Page: 8 of 9




       8                       Opinion of the Court                  22-10742

              Nor was the district judge required to explain why he re-
       jected Steiger’s request for a time served sentence. “[T]he sentenc-
       ing judge need only set forth enough to satisfy the appellate court
       that he has considered the parties’ arguments and has a reasoned
       basis for exercising his own legal decisionmaking authority.”
       Chavez-Meza v. United States, 

, 113 (2018) (2018) (internal
       quotation marks and citation omitted). “Just how much of an ex-
       planation” is required “depends . . . upon the circumstances of the
       particular case.” Id. at 116. Sometimes it is enough “that the judge
       simply relied upon the record, while making clear that he or she
       has considered the parties’ arguments and taken account of the
       § 3553(a) factors, among others.” Id. In sum, Steiger has not
       demonstrated plain error with regard to the procedural reasonable-
       ness of the sentence.
              Next, Steiger argues that his sentence is substantively unrea-
       sonable. Again, our review is for plain error because Steiger did not
       object below. Vandergrift, 

.
               This Court “consider[s] whether a sentence is substantively
       unreasonable under the totality of the circumstances and in light
       of the 

(a) factors.” United States v. Johnson, 

 (11th Cir. 2015). “Although there is no proportionality prin-
       ciple in sentencing, a major variance does require a more significant
       justification than a minor one—the requirement is that the justifi-
       cation be ‘sufficiently compelling to support the degree of the var-
       iance.’” United States v. Irey, 

 (11th Cir. 2010) (en
       banc) (quoting Gall, 

). But “[e]ven as to a substantial
USCA11 Case: 22-10742      Document: 62-1      Date Filed: 07/16/2024     Page: 9 of 9




       9                      Opinion of the Court                  22-10742

       variance, [this Court] will not reverse a sentence unless [it is] left
       with the definite and firm conviction that the district court com-
       mitted a clear error of judgment in weighing the § 3553(a) factors
       by arriving at a sentence that lies outside the range of reasonable
       sentences dictated by the facts of the case.” Johnson, 803 F.3d at 618–
       19 (quotation omitted).
              Here, the district judge addressed the § 3553(a) factors and
       specifically mentioned that he had considered the evidence pre-
       sented at the revocation hearing, which would have included the
       nature and circumstances of the murder. Steiger murdered the
       mother of his child on the child’s first birthday and dumped her
       inside a barrel where her decomposing body remained for months
       in the heat. Steiger planned the murder beforehand and carried it
       out in the presence of his one-year-old child. Steiger lied when
       questioned by law enforcement. His actions a mere two months
       into his probation sentence obviously convinced the district judge
       that he deserved a much greater penalty than the guidelines sug-
       gested, and the upward departure itself is reasonable. The district
       court imposed a lighter sentence than the statutory maximum of
       20 years per count, which would have resulted in a total of 80 years’
       imprisonment. Steiger has not demonstrated that the district court
       plainly erred in weighing the § 3553(a) factors and imposing an
       above-guidelines sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.
                                IV. CONCLUSION
              For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM Steiger’s sentence.