United States v. Jennifer Lennon
United States v. Jennifer Lennon
Opinion
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 20-4428
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
JENNIFER NEACO LENNON,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:08-cr-00369-WO-3)
Submitted February 12, 2021 Decided: February 17, 2021
Before NIEMEYER, WYNN, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
James B. Craven, III, Durham, North Carolina, for Appellant. Matthew G.T. Martin, United States Attorney, Terry M. Meinecke, Assistant United States Attorney, Michael F. Joseph, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
In January 2009, Jennifer Neaco Lennon pled guilty, pursuant to a plea agreement,
to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a
detectable amount of cocaine base, in violation of
21 U.S.C. § 846. The district court
imposed the then-statutory minimum sentence of 120 months’ imprisonment followed by
a 5-year term of supervised release. See
21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) (2006). Lennon’s
supervised release term commenced on May 5, 2016. The probation officer filed a
revocation petition on December 7, 2017, but Lennon was not arrested until June 18, 2020,
over two-and-a-half years since she last submitted to supervision.
At the revocation hearing, the district court first considered whether Lennon was
eligible for a sentence reduction under § 404 of the First Step Act of 2018,
Pub. L. No. 115-391, 132Stat. 5194, which rendered retroactive the reduced statutory penalties under
the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010,
Pub. L. No. 111-220, 124Stat. 2372. The court found
that Lennon was eligible for relief but reduced her sentence to time served so that she could
not bank time against whatever revocation sentence the court decided to impose. To that
end, the court revoked Lennon’s supervised release and sentenced her to 14 months’
imprisonment. On appeal, Lennon argues that this revocation sentence, at the high end of
her advisory policy statement range, is unreasonable. We affirm.
“A district court has broad discretion when imposing a sentence upon revocation of
supervised release. This Court will affirm a revocation sentence if it is within the statutory
maximum and is not plainly unreasonable.” United States v. Patterson,
957 F.3d 426, 436(4th Cir. 2020). “[T]his Court must first determine whether the sentence is procedurally or
2 substantively unreasonable.”
Id.“Only if a sentence is either procedurally or substantively
unreasonable is a determination then made as to whether the sentence is plainly
unreasonable—that is, whether the unreasonableness is clear or obvious.”
Id. at 437(internal quotation marks omitted).
“A revocation sentence is procedurally reasonable if the district court adequately
explains the chosen sentence after considering the Sentencing Guidelines’ nonbinding
Chapter Seven policy statements and the applicable
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors.” United
States v. Coston,
964 F.3d 289, 297(4th Cir. 2020) (internal quotation marks omitted),
cert. denied, No. 20-6513,
2021 WL 161125(U.S. Jan. 19, 2021); see
18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)
(listing applicable factors). “A revocation sentence is substantively reasonable if, in light
of the totality of the circumstances, the court states an appropriate basis for concluding that
the defendant should receive the sentence imposed.” Coston,
964 F.3d at 297(internal
quotation marks omitted). “A sentence within the policy statement range is presumed
reasonable.” United States v. Padgett,
788 F.3d 370, 373(4th Cir. 2015) (internal quotation
marks omitted).
Contrary to Lennon’s suggestion, our decisions in United States v. Jackson,
952 F.3d 492(4th Cir. 2020), and United States v. Venable,
943 F.3d 187(4th Cir. 2019),
do not dictate a different result. And, having discerned no reversible procedural errors, see
United States v. Provance,
944 F.3d 213, 217-18(4th Cir. 2019), we decline Lennon’s
invitation to reweigh the § 3553(a) factors, see United States v. Jeffery,
631 F.3d 669, 679(4th Cir. 2011).
3 Because Lennon has not demonstrated that her revocation sentence is unreasonable,
let alone plainly so, we affirm the district court’s judgment. 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
4
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished