USA v. Lee Colson, Jr.

Filing

Opinion issued by court as to Appellant Lee Manuel Colson, Jr.. Decision: Affirmed. Opinion type: Non-Published. Opinion method: Per Curiam. The opinion is also available through the Court's Opinions page at this link http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions.

Case: 16-16642

Date Filed: 06/29/2017

Page: 1 of 3

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 16-16642
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 4:16-cr-00021-MW-CAS-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
LEE MANUEL COLSON, JR.,
a.k.a. Lee Colson,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Florida
________________________
(June 29, 2017)
Before MARCUS, WILLIAM PRYOR and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:

Case: 16-16642

Date Filed: 06/29/2017

Page: 2 of 3

Lee Colson Jr. appeals his sentence of 30 months of imprisonment for
distributing marijuana, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(D); distributing cocaine base,
id. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C); possessing with intent to distribute marijuana, cocaine,
cocaine base, and alpha-Pyrrolidinovalerophenone, id. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C),
(b)(1)(D); and being a felon in possession of a firearm, id. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2).
Colson also received a mandatory consecutive sentence of 60 months of
imprisonment for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, 18 U.S.C.
§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i), which he does not challenge on appeal. Colson argues that the
district court erred by adding three points to his criminal history score for a prior
sentence of 22 months of probation that was conditioned on him spending every
night in jail. We affirm.
Any error in adding three points to Colson’s criminal history score was
harmless. The district court made clear that it would have imposed the same
sentence without adding the criminal history points. See United States v. Keene,
470 F.3d 1347, 1348–49 (11th Cir. 2006). The district court stated that, “even if [it]
had accepted [Colson’s] argument, the range would have been 27 to 33 months”
and “any sentence less than 30 months . . . would be inadequate because if [he] had
done 22 months and a year and a day, then continue[d] to sell drugs repeatedly,
that a 30 months sentence is, if anything, a generous sentence.”

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Case: 16-16642

Date Filed: 06/29/2017

Page: 3 of 3

Colson’s sentence, below the guideline range, is reasonable. See id. at 1349;
see also 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Colson had 14 prior convictions for battery, burglary
of a structure, possession of a controlled substance, possession of contraband in a
detention facility, and driving while his license was suspended, and the state courts
revoked most of his sentences of probation. Undeterred, Colson sold drugs from
his residence on several occasions while he was, in the words of the district court,
“heavily armed.” Even so, the district court found that Colson’s criminal history
score overstated his criminal record because many of his prior convictions
involved traffic offenses and varied downward from his advisory guideline range
of 46 to 57 months of imprisonment. The district court committed no error.
We AFFIRM Colson’s sentence.

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