US v. Alexander Robbin

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 7:14-cr-00025-FL-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999634723].. [14-4783]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-4783

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
ALEXANDER ROBBINS,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. Louise W. Flanagan,
District Judge. (7:14-cr-00025-FL-1)

Submitted:

June 29, 2015

Decided:

August 5, 2015

Before SHEDD, DIAZ, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Thomas P. McNamara, Federal Public Defender, Eric J. Brignac,
Assistant Federal Public Defender, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
Appellant.
Thomas G. Walker, United States Attorney, Jennifer
P. May-Parker, Phillip A. Rubin, Assistant United States
Attorneys, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Alexander Robbins challenges the substantive reasonableness
of the 71-month sentence imposed by the district court following
his

conviction,

pursuant

to

a

guilty

plea,

for

knowingly

possessing a firearm and ammunition as a felon, in violation of
18

U.S.C.

§§ 922(g)(1),

924(a)(2)

(2012).

In

imposing

the

sentence, the district court departed upward from the Sentencing
Guidelines
category

range,

concluding

“substantially

that

Robbins’

underrepresent[ed]

criminal

the

history

seriousness

of

[his] criminal history or the likelihood that [he] will commit
other crimes.”
(2013).

U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 4A1.3, p.s.

We affirm.

We

review

deferential

a

sentence

for

abuse-of-discretion

States, 552 U.S. 38, 41 (2007).
does

not

attention

assert
to

the

reasonableness,
standard.”

applying

Gall

v.

“a

United

Where, as here, the defendant

procedural

sentencing

error,

substantive

reasonableness

of

we

turn

the

sentence,

“take[] into account the totality of the circumstances,”

our

id.,

at 51, and consider “whether the sentencing court abused its
discretion in concluding that the sentence it chose satisfied
the

standards

set

forth

in

[18

U.S.C.]

§

3553(a)

[(2012)],”

United States v. Gomez-Jimenez, 750 F.3d 370, 383 (4th Cir.)
(internal quotation marks omitted), cert. denied, 135 S. Ct. 305
(2014), and cert. denied, 135 S. Ct. 384 (2014).
2

“An appellate

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court owes ‘due deference’ to a district court’s assessment of
the § 3553(a) factors, and mere disagreement with the sentence
below

is

court.’”

‘insufficient

to

justify

reversal

of

the

district

United States v. Howard, 773 F.3d 519, 531 (4th Cir.

2014) (quoting Gall, 552 U.S. at 51); see id. at 529 n.8; see
also Gall, 552 U.S. at 51-52.
Robbins first contends that the district court abused its
discretion by upwardly departing under § 4A1.3, p.s., because
his

criminal

misdemeanor
offenses.
included

history,

though

convictions,

not

We

note,

numerous

lengthy,
violent

however,

that

misdemeanor

primarily
felonies

Robbins’

included

or

firearm

criminal

convictions

for

history

assaultive

behavior and for crimes against property and a felony conviction
for possession of a firearm as a felon — all of which received
no criminal history points.
p.s.,

prevented

the

Nothing in the language of § 4A1.3,

district

court

from

relying

on

these

unscored convictions, and we conclude that it did not abuse its
discretion by doing so.
Second, Robbins argues that his departure sentence creates
unwarranted

sentencing

disparities

between

him

and

those

who

have been convicted under § 922(g)(1) and have received withinGuidelines sentences after being accorded the same total offense
level

and

criminal

history

category

as

Robbins.

On

the

contrary, we conclude that the Sentencing Commission’s adoption
3

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of the § 4A1.3, p.s., departure renders the resulting sentencing
disparity

between

warranted.
54.

Robbins

and

his

putative

comparators

See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(6); cf. Gall, 552 U.S. at

Although a sentencing disparity based on a § 4A1.3, p.s.,

departure

might

be

unwarranted

inappropriately

applied,

itself,

be

cannot

the

grounds

if

imposition

for

the
of

concluding

the
that

departure

is

departure,

by

the

resulting

disparity is unwarranted.
Next, Robbins contends that the district court’s rationale
for imposing its sentence was unreasonable because his criminal
history shows he was predominantly a drug user and not in the
habit of using firearms as part of his criminal conduct and
that, therefore, he presented a danger to himself more than to
the

public.

See

18

U.S.C.

§ 3553(a)(2)(C).

Robbins’

characterization of his criminal history is deeply flawed.

As

the district court noted, his convictions exhibit a pattern of
assaulting others, injuring their property, and placing their
safety

at

risk

regulations.

by

his

criminal

disregard

for

motor

vehicle

His claim that he has generally, but not always,

refrained from using a firearm while engaging in conduct that
harms or endangers the public is largely irrelevant.
event,

the

sentencing
violently

language
court’s

harms

the

of

§ 3553(a)(2)(C)

consideration
public,

and
4

to
the

does

not

criminal
possession

In any

limit

conduct
and

the
that

use

of

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illicit

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drugs

are

by

no

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means

harmless

to

society.

See

Harmelin v. Michigan, 501 U.S. 957, 1002-03 (1991) (Kennedy, J.,
concurring).
Finally,
sentence

was

deterrence

Robbins

unreasonable

when

irrationally,
punishment.

contends

is

he,
not

as

that

the

it

relied

because
a

drug

amenable

district

addict

to

the

on

the

need

compelled

deterrent

See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(B).

court’s
for

to

act

effect

of

We have found no

case in which a court of appeals has concluded that deterrence
is an inappropriate sentencing factor on the ground that the
defendant

is

a

drug

addict,

and

Robbins

points

to

none.

Moreover, we note that Robbins’ reasoning appears to be at odds
with the conclusions reached by the Supreme Court in Powell v.
Texas, 392 U.S. 514 (1968).
Because Robbins has offered no meritorious reason why we
should not defer to the district court’s judgment, we conclude
that

the

sentence

reasonable.
judgment.
legal
before

imposed

Accordingly,

on

we

Robbins

affirm

the

is

substantively

district

court’s

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and

contentions
this

court

are

adequately

and

argument

presented

would

not

in
aid

the
the

materials
decisional

process.
AFFIRMED

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