United States v. Dabney
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Defendant Demeco Elijah Dabney appeals from a judgment in a criminal case, signed on March 11, 2005, following his plea of guilty to one count of conspiring to smuggle aliens into the United States in
Defendant challenges only his sentence on appeal, relying on two arguments. First, defendant contends that the District Court failed to acknowledge the advisory nature of the Sentencing Guidelines after the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Booker, — U.S.-, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), instead applying the Guidelines as if they remained mandatory and failing to give sufficient consideration to the factors outlined in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) as grounds for imposing a lesser sentence. Second, defendant argues that the District Court erroneously enhanced his sentence based on the Court’s finding that defendant obstructed justice by traveling to Canada after his guilty plea without contacting any relevant authorities or intending to return to the United States for his scheduled sentencing date. In particular, defendant maintains that the District Court failed to conclude that he had acted with the specific intent to obstruct justice, and that, regardless, any such finding should not have been made by a judge, but by a jury.
Each of these contentions is without merit. First, the record shows that the District Court acknowledged explicitly that it had considered the factors listed in § 3553(a) and concluded that a sentence within the Guidelines range of fifteen to twenty-one months was appropriate based on an independent assessment made by the Court. As the District Court stated at the conclusion of defendant’s sentencing hearing:
Now, for the record, I have also reviewed all of the conditions under section 3553(a) of Title 18 and find that a sentence at the low end of the applicable guideline range is the appropriate sentence in this particular case, and as a result, I am not going to adjust. That’s the applicable-i/iai’s the appropriate sentence in this particular case. And I would note that the sentencing commission has considered virtually all of the factors, but I am making an independent assessment, and I think that’s the appropriate sentence.
Sentencing Tr. 44, Mar. 7, 2005 (emphases added). Although the District Court did not parse each statutory factor on the record, defendant’s characterization of this statement as nothing more than a “passing reference” to the Court’s obligation to consider the factors listed in § 3553(a) is unavailing. See United States v. Crosby, 397 F.3d 103, 113 (2d Cir. 2005) (noting that this Court has “refrained from imposing any rigorous requirement of specific articulation by the sentencing judge” and that “we will no more require ‘robotic incantations’ by district judges than we did when the Guidelines were mandatory”); cf. United States v. Fleming, 397 F.3d 95, 100 (2d Cir. 2005) (“As long as the judge is aware of both the statutory requirements and the sentencing range or ranges that are arguably applicable, and nothing in the record indicates misunderstanding about such materials or misperception about their relevance, we will accept that the requisite consideration has occurred.”).
Defendant also challenges the District Court’s enhancement of his sentence for obstruction of justice, arguing, first, that the facts do not support a finding that he acted willfully and, second, that, in any event, the Sixth Amendment requires such
Accordingly, we conclude that the District Court did not err in sentencing defendant.
We have considered all of defendant’s arguments and have found each of them to be without merit. Accordingly, the judgment of the District Court is hereby AFFIRMED.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Demeco Elijah DABNEY
- Status
- Published