US v. Steven Thompson

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 5:09-cr-00373-FL-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998617934]. [10-5023]

Appeal: 10-5023

Document: 31

Date Filed: 06/23/2011

Page: 1 of 5

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 10-5023

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
STEVEN THOMPSON,
Defendant – Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Greenville. Louise W. Flanagan,
Chief District Judge. (5:09-cr-00373-FL-1)

Submitted:

May 20, 2011

Decided:

June 23, 2011

Before MOTZ, KING, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Thomas P. McNamara, Federal Public Defender, Stephen C. Gordon,
Assistant Federal Public Defender, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
Appellant.
George E. B. Holding, United States Attorney,
Jennifer P. May-Parker, Kristine L. Fritz, Assistant United
States Attorneys, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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Date Filed: 06/23/2011

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PER CURIAM:
Steven Wayne Thompson pled guilty to health care fraud
and

was

sentenced

to

fifty-eight

months

of

imprisonment.

He

argues on appeal that the district court abused its discretion
by departing upward, by the extent of the departure, and by
failing to adequately explain the reasons for departing.

We

find no abuse of discretion and therefore affirm.
A

sentence

is

reviewed

abuse of discretion standard.
38, 51 (2007).

for

reasonableness

under

an

Gall v. United States, 552 U.S.

This review requires consideration of both the

procedural and substantive reasonableness of a sentence.

Id.

After determining whether the district court properly calculated
the defendant’s advisory Guidelines range, the appellate court
considers whether the district court considered the 18 U.S.C.
§ 3553(a) (2006) factors, analyzed the arguments presented by
the parties, and sufficiently explained the selected sentence.
Id.; see also United States v. Carter, 564 F.3d 325, 330 (4th
Cir. 2009).

Finally, the appeals court reviews the substantive

reasonableness
totality

of

of

the

the

sentence,

circumstances,

“taking

including

variation from the Guidelines range.”

into
the

account

extent

of

the
any

Gall, 552 U.S. at 51.

When reviewing a departure, we consider “whether the
sentencing
decision

to

court

acted

impose

such

reasonably
a

both

sentence
2

and

with

respect

to

its

with

respect

to

the

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Date Filed: 06/23/2011

Page: 3 of 5

extent of the divergence from the sentencing range.”
States

v.

2007).

Hernandez-Villanueva,

473

F.3d

118,

123

United

(4th

Cir.

Under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 4A1.3(a)(1)

(2010),

“[i]f

defendant’s

reliable

criminal

information

history

indicates

category

that

substantially

the

under-

represents the seriousness of the defendant’s criminal history
or the likelihood that the defendant will commit other crimes,
an upward departure may be warranted.”

Additionally, upward

departures from the highest criminal history category, VI, are
specifically

contemplated

by

the

Guidelines.

USSG

§

4A1.3,

comment. (n.2(B)).
Here, the district court’s decision to depart upwardly
was

reasonable.

Thompson’s

The

repeated

district
and

court

numerous

found

that,

offenses

because

of

of

obtaining

prescription pain medication by fraud, an upward departure was
warranted based on an “increased risk of recidivism, [and] the
need to protect the public.”

The court stated that Thompson’s

repeated conduct evidenced by his criminal history led her to
believe that an 18 to 24 month sentence was insufficient to
prevent Thompson from returning “to doing exactly what he’s done
for just about all of his life.”
that

an

upward

departure

was

The court therefore concluded
warranted

to

account

for

the

seriousness of his criminal history and the likelihood that he
would

commit

other

crimes.

Moving
3

incrementally

down

the

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Date Filed: 06/23/2011

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sentencing table the court found that the 57 to 71 month range,
at offense level 17, appropriately accounted for the seriousness
of

Thompson’s

committing
parties
court

criminal

other

and

history

crimes.

considering

sentenced

him

and

After
the

to

58

§

the

likelihood

hearing

3553(a)

months

factors,

him

from

argument

of

the

the

imprisonment,

district

an

upward

departure from the 18 to 24 month advisory Guidelines range.

We

conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in
determining that a departure was warranted.
In addition, we conclude the extent of the district
court’s departure was reasonable.

In determining the extent of

a departure under USSG § 4A1.3, the district court must use an
incremental
States v.

approach.

Dalton,

477

See
F.3d

USSG
195,

§

199

4A1.3(a)(4)(A);
(4th

Cir.

United

2007).

The

incremental approach requires the district court to refer first
to the next higher category and explain why it fails to reflect
the seriousness of the defendant’s record before considering a
higher category.

See United States v. Rusher, 966 F.2d 868, 884

(4th Cir. 1992).
The
required
departure.

by

court
USSG
Having

appropriately
§

4A1.3,

found

p.s.,

Thompson’s

employed
for

the

crafting

offense

level

methodology
an
of

upward
8

was

inadequate, the district court “mov[ed] incrementally down the
sentencing table to the next higher offense level in Criminal
4

Appeal: 10-5023

Document: 31

History

Date Filed: 06/23/2011

Category

appropriate

to

VI

the

until

case.”

it
USSG

Page: 5 of 5

[found]

a

guideline

§ 4A1.3(a)(4)(B),

range

p.s.

The

district court specifically found that offense levels 9 through
16

were

not

defendant’s

adequate

criminal

to

history

reflect
or

the

the

seriousness

likelihood

that

of

the

he

will

commit future crimes.
We conclude the district court’s decision to depart
under § 4A1.3 was factually supported and that the resulting
sentence

was

reasonable.

Moreover,

the

explained its reasons for the departure.
Thompson’s sentence.
facts

and

materials

legal
before

court

adequately

We therefore affirm

We dispense with oral argument because the

contentions

are

adequately

the

and

argument

court

presented

would

not

in

the

aid

the

decisional process.
AFFIRMED

5