United States v. Bradley Campbell
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UNPUBLISHED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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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