US v. Stacey Butler

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 1:09-cr-00349-NCT-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998601065].. [10-5124]

Appeal: 10-5124

Document: 24

Date Filed: 05/31/2011

Page: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 10-5124

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
STACEY LAMONTE BUTLER,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Greensboro.
N. Carlton Tilley,
Jr., Senior District Judge. (1:09-cr-00349-NCT-1)

Submitted:

May 26, 2011

Decided:

May 31, 2011

Before KING, SHEDD, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Louis C. Allen III, Federal Public Defender, William S.
Trivette, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Greensboro, North
Carolina, for Appellant.
Ripley Rand, United States Attorney,
Michael F. Joseph, Assistant United States Attorney, Greensboro,
North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Stacey Lamonte Butler pled guilty to being a felon in
possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)
(2006).

The district court declined to sentence Butler below

his advisory Sentencing Guidelines range and imposed a seventymonth sentence, the bottom of his properly calculated advisory
sentencing range.

Butler alleges on appeal that his sentence

was greater than necessary and therefore unreasonable.

For the

reasons that follow, we affirm.
After United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), we
review a sentence for reasonableness using a deferential abuseof-discretion standard.
(2007).

Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 49

We apply a presumption of reasonableness on appeal to a

within-Guidelines sentence.

Rita v. United States, 551 U.S.

338, 347 (2007); United States v. Allen, 491 F.3d 178, 193 (4th
Cir. 2007).

A properly calculated sentence is entitled to a

presumption

of

presumption

only

reasonableness;
by

a

demonstrating

defendant
that

may

the

rebut
sentence

the
is

unreasonable when measured against the 18 U.S.C.A. § 3553(a)
(West 2000 & Supp. 2010) factors.

United States v. Montes-

Pineda, 445 F.3d 375, 379 (4th Cir. 2006).

Because a sentence

imposed within a properly calculated Guidelines range enjoys a
presumption of reasonableness on appeal, United States v. Go,
517 F.3d 216, 218 (4th Cir. 2008), an extensive explanation is
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not required as long as the appellate court is satisfied that
the district court has considered the parties’ arguments and has
a reasoned basis for exercising its own legal decisionmaking
authority.

United

States

v.

Engle,

592

F.3d

495,

500

(4th

Cir.), cert. denied, __ U.S. __, 131 S. Ct. 165 (2010).
We find Butler’s sentence was reasonable.
correctly
reviewed

calculated
some

of

the

Butler’s
18

advisory

U.S.C.A.

sentenced him within that range.

§

The court

sentencing

3553(a)

range,

factors,

and

The court adequately explained

why it declined to impose a below-Guidelines range sentence and
provided a rationale for its sentence.

Engle, 592 F.3d at 500;

United States v. Carter, 564 F.3d 325, 330 (4th Cir. 2009).
Accordingly, we affirm Butler’s sentence.

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

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