United States v. William Long

United States Court of Appeals

For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 23-2498 ___________________________

United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee v.

William Long

Defendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas - Fayetteville ____________

Submitted: February 12, 2024

Filed: March 8, 2024 [Unpublished] ____________

Before SMITH, Chief Judge, BENTON and STRAS, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM.

The district court 1 sentenced William Long to 120 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to distributing methamphetamine. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). He argues that his sentence is substantively unreasonable.

We conclude otherwise. See United States v. Harris, 960 F.3d 1103, 1106 (8th Cir. 2020) (reviewing for an abuse of discretion). The record establishes that the district court sufficiently considered the statutory sentencing factors, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and did not rely on an improper factor or commit a clear error in judgment. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461–62 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc). It discussed several mitigating factors, including Long’s family history, mental-health issues, and acceptance of responsibility, and varied downward from the recommended range. Just because Long hoped they would be given more weight does not mean the court abused its discretion. See United States v. Moua, 895 F.3d 556, 560 (8th Cir. 2018) (per curiam); see also United States v. McKanry, 628 F.3d 1010, 1022 (8th Cir. 2011) (explaining that it is “nearly inconceivable” that a district court abused its discretion by refusing to vary downward even further (citation omitted)). We accordingly affirm the judgment of the district court. ______________________________