United States v. Coron McCain
United States v. Coron McCain
Opinion
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 21-4105
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
CORON RASHAD MCCAIN,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Graham C. Mullen, Senior District Judge. (3:98-cr-00298-GCM-4)
Submitted: October 14, 2021 Decided: October 18, 2021
Before DIAZ and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Chiege Ojugo Kalu Okwara, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant. William T. Stetzer, Acting United States Attorney, Anthony J. Enright, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
Coron Rashad McCain appeals from the district court’s revocation of his term of
supervised release. The district court found that McCain violated his supervised release
conditions by committing new violations of law—including possession with intent to
distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute marijuana—and imposed a 27-
month term of imprisonment. On appeal, McCain challenges the sufficiency of the
evidence supporting his supervised release violations, and alleges that the revocation
petition only accused him of possessing marijuana. Finding no error, we affirm.
McCain argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he had the intent to
distribute cocaine and marijuana, and, therefore, he should have received Grade C
violations for mere possession, rather than Grade A violations. We review the district
court’s revocation decision for abuse of discretion and its factual findings for clear error.
United States v. Dennison,
925 F.3d 185, 190(4th Cir. 2019). A district court need only
find a supervised release violation by a preponderance of the evidence.
Id.at 191 (citing
18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3)). Based on our review of the record, we conclude that there was
ample evidence adduced at the revocation hearing from which the district court could
conclude that McCain possessed with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, offenses
which constitute Grade A violations of supervised release. See U.S. Sentencing Guidelines
Manual § 7B1.1(a)(1), p.s. (2018).
McCain also argues that, because the revocation petition stated that he only
possessed marijuana, he was provided insufficient notice that he was accused of possession
2 with intent to distribute marijuana. The Government contends that because McCain failed
to raise this argument in the district court, the plain error standard of review applies.
However, our review of the record reveals that McCain arguably raised the issue of whether
the violation was properly alleged in the petition in the district court. Therefore, the abuse
of discretion standard applies. Dennison,
925 F.3d at 190. Although the petition listed
only possession of marijuana, the petition noted that the offense was punishable under
21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(D), which requires specific intent to manufacture, distribute, or
dispense a controlled substance. Moreover, the petition stated that the violation constituted
a Grade A violation of supervised release. We therefore find that the petition was sufficient
to put McCain on notice that he was accused of possession with intent to distribute
marijuana, and, as such, the district court did not abuse its discretion in revoking McCain’s
supervised release.
Accordingly, 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
3
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished