US v. John Thompson

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case numbers: 3:01-cr-00084-MR-1,3:01-cr-00135-MR-2,3:10-cr-00187-MR-1. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998592946] [10-5012]

Appeal: 10-5012

Document: 28

Date Filed: 05/19/2011

Page: 1 of 4

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 10-5012

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
JOHN ALBERT THOMPSON,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Martin K. Reidinger,
District Judge.
(3:01-cr-00084-MR-1; 3:01-cr-00135-MR-2; 3:10cr-00187-MR-1)

Submitted:

April 28, 2011

Decided:

May 19, 2011

Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and SHEDD, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Jennifer Coulter, COULTER & THOMPSON, Charlotte, North Carolina,
for Appellant.
Amy Elizabeth Ray, Assistant United States
Attorney, Asheville, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

Appeal: 10-5012

Document: 28

Date Filed: 05/19/2011

Page: 2 of 4

PER CURIAM:
John Albert Thompson appeals the sentence he received
after

the

district

court

four

revoked

charged

his

supervised

violations

at

the

release.

Thompson

admitted

revocation

hearing.

The district court imposed a sentence of nine months’

imprisonment to be followed by a new twenty-seven-month term of
supervised

release.

Thompson’s

attorney

has

filed

a

brief

pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), raising
two

issues

but

stating

that,

in

meritorious issues for appeal.

his

view,

there

are

no

Thompson was informed of his

right to file a pro se supplemental brief, but has not filed a
brief.

We affirm.
First, Thompson argues that the district court erred

in

finding

that

revocation

was

mandatory.

Under

18

U.S.C.

§ 3583(g) (2006), revocation of supervised release is mandatory
when a defendant on supervised release possesses a firearm or a
controlled substance or refuses to comply with drug testing.
Thompson admitted that he failed to comply with drug testing.
Although
supervised
court

the

district

release

instead

on

court
this

continued

could

basis

Thompson

have

earlier,
on

revoked
the

supervised

fact

Thompson’s
that

release

the
with

modifications, as requested by the probation officer, does not
establish that the court had discretion to ignore § 3583(g)’s
requirement for mandatory revocation when the probation officer
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Date Filed: 05/19/2011

Page: 3 of 4

petitioned the court for revocation.

The court did not err in

finding that revocation was mandatory.
Next, Thompson argues that his nine-month sentence was
an

abuse

of

considering

a

discretion
sentence

and

below

that
the

the

range.

court

erred

Generally,

in
we

not
will

affirm a sentence imposed after revocation of supervised release
if it is within the governing statutory range and is not plainly
unreasonable.

United States v. Crudup, 461 F.3d 433, 439-40

(4th Cir. 2006).

The nine-month sentence was within the Chapter

7 Guidelines range and is thus presumptively reasonable.
States v. Allen, 491 F.3d 178, 193 (4th Cir. 2007).
has not rebutted the presumption.

United
Thompson

The court had authority to

impose a new term of supervised release under § 3583(h) as long
as the new term did not exceed thirty-six months less the ninemonth term of imprisonment imposed upon revocation.

The court

complied with this requirement.
Accordingly,
district court.

we

affirm

the

sentence

imposed

by

the

In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the

entire record for any meritorious issues and have found none.
This court requires that counsel inform Thompson, in writing, of
his right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States for
further review.

If Thompson requests that a petition be filed,

but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous,
then counsel may move in this court for leave to withdraw from
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Appeal: 10-5012

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representation.

Date Filed: 05/19/2011

Page: 4 of 4

Counsel’s motion must state that a copy thereof

was served on Thompson.

We dispense with oral argument because

the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
materials

before

the

court

and

argument

would

not

aid

the

decisional process.
AFFIRMED

4