USA v. Lerin Joiner

Filing

Opinion issued by court as to Appellant Lerin M. Joiner. Decision: Affirmed. Opinion type: Non-Published. Opinion method: Per Curiam.

Case: 13-12228

Date Filed: 01/28/2014

Page: 1 of 3

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 13-12228
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 1:09-cr-00375-JEC-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
LERIN M. JOINER,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
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(January 28, 2014)
Before WILSON, PRYOR and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:

Case: 13-12228

Date Filed: 01/28/2014

Page: 2 of 3

Lerin Joiner appeals his sentence of 18 months of imprisonment and 18
months of supervised release, following the third revocation of his supervised
release. See 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e). Joiner argues that his sentence is unreasonable.
We affirm.
The district court did not abuse its discretion. Joiner admitted that he
violated the conditions of his supervised release a third time by forging two checks
that he had stolen from his mother’s business; failing to comply with conditions
governing his residence, employment, drug screening, and drug counseling; and
traveling out of state without permission from his probation officer. Joiner failed
to improve his conduct despite having served a sentence of 70 months of
imprisonment for drug and firearm offenses, see 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(B); 18
U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 922(j), 922(k); having his four-year term of supervised
release revoked and being sentenced to an additional five months of imprisonment
followed by 19 months of supervised release after testing positive for marijuana
and failing to participate in a substance abuse program; and having that second
term of supervised release revoked and being sentenced to another 19 months of
supervised release after missing counseling sessions, refusing to undergo drug
testing, and submitting synthetic urine when he did submit to a drug test. The
district court determined that Joiner’s “consistently not good record and . . .
pattern” of misconduct supported its decision to vary four months above Joiner’s
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Case: 13-12228

Date Filed: 01/28/2014

Page: 3 of 3

advisory guideline range of 8 to 14 months of imprisonment and impose a sentence
of 24 months of imprisonment. Even so, the district court reduced Joiner’s
sentence by six months to account for the time he had served in state custody for
his forgery offense. The district court found “really significant” Joiner’s forgery
and his lengthy criminal history and thought that “some additional jail time [was]
necessary” to convince him that “jail is not a good thing,” see 18 U.S.C.
§§ 3583(c), 3553(a), and those concerns are sufficiently compelling to support the
degree of the upward variance. See United States v. Tome, 611 F.3d 1371, 1378–
79 (11th Cir. 2010). Joiner argues that his sentence fails to account for his
acceptance of responsibility and his assurances that his behavior will improve, but
the district court was entitled to find that “there [had been] nothing . . . to [suggest]
. . . [he] [had] changed.” Joiner’s sentence is reasonable.
We AFFIRM the revocation of Joiner’s supervised release and his sentence.

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