United States v. Bradley Campbell

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

United States v. Bradley Campbell

Opinion

USCA4 Appeal: 21-4670 Doc: 25 Filed: 11/30/2022 Pg: 1 of 4

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 21-4670

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

BRADLEY CAMPBELL,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (5:14-cr-00098-FL-1)

Submitted: October 28, 2022 Decided: November 30, 2022

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and KING and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

ON BRIEF: G. Alan DuBois, Federal Public Defender, Eric Joseph Brignac, Chief Appellate Attorney, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant. Michael F. Easley, Jr., United States Attorney, David A. Bragdon, Assistant United States Attorney, Joshua L. Rogers, Assistant United States Attorneys, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 21-4670 Doc: 25 Filed: 11/30/2022 Pg: 2 of 4

PER CURIAM:

Bradley Campbell appeals the 306-month sentence imposed on his second

resentencing following his conviction by a jury of kidnapping, in violation of

18 U.S.C. § 1201

(a)(1), and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of

18 U.S.C. § 922

(g)(1). On appeal, Campbell argues that the district court imposed a substantively

unreasonable sentence. We affirm.

We review a criminal sentence, “whether inside, just outside, or significantly

outside the [Sentencing] Guidelines range,” for reasonableness “under a deferential abuse-

of-discretion standard.” Gall v. United States,

552 U.S. 38, 41

(2007). We first must

“ensure that the district court committed no significant procedural error, such as failing to

calculate (or improperly calculating) the Guidelines range, treating the Guidelines as

mandatory, failing to consider the § 3553(a) factors, selecting a sentence based on clearly

erroneous facts, or failing to adequately explain the chosen sentence.” United States v.

Fowler,

948 F.3d 663, 668

(4th Cir. 2020) (internal quotation marks omitted). Our review

of the record reveals that the district court committed no reversible procedural error. See

United States v. Provance,

944 F.3d 213, 218

(4th Cir. 2019); see also United States v.

Boulware,

604 F.3d 832, 838

(4th Cir. 2010) (explaining that deficiencies in explanation

are harmless if “we “can say with fair assurance that the district court’s” discussion of

omitted factors “would not have affected the sentence imposed” (cleaned up)).

“If [we] find[] no significant procedural error, [we] then consider[] the substantive

reasonableness of the sentence imposed.” United States v. Arbaugh,

951 F.3d 167, 172

(4th Cir. 2020) (internal quotation marks omitted). A sentence must be “sufficient, but not

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greater than necessary,” to satisfy the statutory purposes of sentencing.

18 U.S.C. § 3553

(a). “A sentence is substantively unreasonable only where under the totality of the

circumstances, the sentencing court abused its discretion in concluding that the sentence it

chose satisfied the standards set forth in § 3553(a).” United States v. Devine,

40 F.4th 139

,

153 (4th Cir. 2022) (internal quotation marks omitted). The district court must “ensure that

the sentence caters to the individual circumstances of a defendant.” United States v.

Howard,

773 F.3d 519, 531

(4th Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted). However,

“district courts have extremely broad discretion when determining the weight to be given

each of the § 3553(a) factors.” United States v. Jeffrey,

631 F.3d 669, 679

(4th Cir. 2011).

“[T]he fact that we might reasonably have concluded that a different sentence was

appropriate is insufficient to justify reversal of the district court.” United States v.

McKinnie,

21 F.4th 283, 292

(4th Cir. 2021) (internal quotation marks omitted), cert.

denied,

142 S. Ct. 2798

(2022).

We presume that a sentence below the applicable Guidelines range is substantively

reasonable. United States v. Zelaya,

908 F.3d 920, 930

(4th Cir. 2018). Campbell can

rebut that presumption only “by showing that the sentence is unreasonable when measured

against the

18 U.S.C. § 3553

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

756 F.3d 295, 306

(4th

Cir. 2014).

Campbell asserts that a more significant downward variance was needed to account

for his individual circumstances—namely, his prior untreated mental illness and drug

addiction—and his demonstrated rehabilitation since his original sentencing. However, we

conclude that Campbell fails to rebut the presumption of reasonableness accorded his

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below-Guidelines sentence. See Zelaya,

908 F.3d at 930

; Louthian,

756 F.3d at 306

.

Campbell’s offense conduct was violent and indisputably severe. As the district court

observed, Campbell had, despite his youth, incurred a significant and, at times, violent

criminal history, which had not deterred him from committing his current offenses.

Nevertheless, the district court granted a significant downward variance from the

Guidelines range of life imprisonment after crediting Campbell’s and his counsel’s

arguments regarding Campbell’s rehabilitative efforts and positive postsentencing conduct.

Ultimately, the district court imposed a prison term only six months longer than the

sentence Campbell himself requested. In view of the significant deference afforded the

district court’s sentencing calculus, we conclude that the district court acted within its

discretion in selecting the sentence imposed.

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

4

Reference

Status
Unpublished