US v. Steve Smith

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 7:05-cr-00074-D-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999410761].. [13-4618]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-4618

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
STEVE ROHAN SMITH,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Dever III,
Chief District Judge. (7:05-cr-00074-D-1)

Submitted:

July 28, 2014

Decided:

August 6, 2014

Before SHEDD, DIAZ, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

W.H. Paramore, III, W.H. PARAMORE, III, P.C., Jacksonville,
North Carolina, for Appellant. Jennifer P. May-Parker, Assistant
United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Steve Rohan Smith appeals his sentence of forty-eight
months’ imprisonment imposed upon revocation of his supervised
release.

Smith’s

counsel

has

filed

a

brief

pursuant

to

Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), stating that there
are no meritorious grounds for appeal but questioning whether
the sentence imposed is plainly unreasonable.

Smith was advised

of his right to file a pro se supplemental brief, but he did not
file one.

The government did not file a brief.

We affirm.

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

United States v. Crudup, 461 F.3d 433,

439-40 (4th Cir. 2006).

We first consider whether the sentence

is procedurally or substantively unreasonable.
this

initial

inquiry,

we

take

a

more

Id. at 438.

deferential

In

posture

concerning issues of fact and the exercise of discretion than
reasonableness

review

for

Guidelines

sentences.

United

States v. Moulden, 478 F.3d 652, 656 (4th Cir. 2007).

Only if

we find the sentence unreasonable must we decide whether it is
plainly so.

Id. at 657; see also United States v. Bennett, 698

F.3d 194, 200 (4th Cir. 2012), cert. denied, 133 S. Ct. 1506
(2013).
court

While a district court must explain its sentence, the

“need

revocation

not

be

sentence

as

detailed
as

it

or
must

2

specific
be

when

when

imposing
imposing

a
a

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post-conviction sentence.”

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United States v. Thompson, 595 F.3d

544, 547 (4th Cir. 2010).
“A district court has broad discretion when imposing a
sentence

upon

States v.

Webb,

revocation
738

of

F.3d

supervised

638,

640

(4th

release.”
Cir.

United

2013).

In

exercising such discretion the court “is guided by the Chapter
Seven policy statements in the federal Guidelines manual, as
well as the statutory factors applicable to revocation sentences
under 18 U.S.C. §§ 3553(a), 3583(e).”

Id. at 641.

“Chapter

Seven instructs that, in fashioning a revocation sentence, ‘the
court should sanction primarily the defendant’s breach of trust,
while taking into account, to a limited degree, the seriousness
of

the

underlying

violator.’”

violation

and

the

criminal

history

of

the

Id. (quoting U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual ch.

7, pt. A(3)(b) (2012)).
The record reflects that in imposing the sentence, the
district court properly focused on Smith’s breach of trust.

The

court

considered

the

explained

the

chosen sentence, which was within the statutory maximum.

We

also

applicable

therefore

cited

the

sentencing

conclude

need

for

factors,

that

deterrence,

and

the

adequately

sentence

was

not

plainly

unreasonable.
In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the entire
record in this case and have found no meritorious issues for
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appeal.

We

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therefore

affirm

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the

district

court’s

judgment.

This court requires that counsel inform Smith, in writing, of
the right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States for
further review.

If Smith requests that a petition be filed, but

counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then
counsel

may

move

representation.

in

and

materials

legal
before

court

for

leave

to

withdraw

from

Counsel’s motion must state that a copy thereof

was served on Smith.
facts

this

We dispense with oral argument because the

contentions

are

adequately

this

and

argument

court

presented

would

not

in

the

aid

the

decisional process.
AFFIRMED

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