US v. Dennis Howard

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 5:12-cr-00009-D-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999747939].. [15-4348]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-4348

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
DENNIS RAY HOWARD, a/k/a D,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Raleigh.
James C. Dever III,
Chief District Judge. (5:12-cr-00009-D-1)

Submitted:

January 19, 2016

Decided:

February 3, 2016

Before MOTZ and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit
Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Joshua B. Howard, GAMMON, HOWARD & ZESZOTARSKI, PLLC, Raleigh,
North Carolina, for Appellant. Thomas G. Walker, United States
Attorney, Jennifer P. May-Parker, Yvonne V. Watford-McKinney,
Assistant United States Attorneys, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
A federal jury convicted Dennis Ray Howard of conspiracy to
distribute and possess with intent to distribute phencyclidine
(“PCP”), in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (2012); nine counts of
distribution of PCP, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) (2012);
and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking
offense,

in

violation

of

18

U.S.C.

§ 924(c)

(2012).

The

district court originally sentenced Howard to life imprisonment
plus a consecutive mandatory minimum sentence of 60 months of
imprisonment

for

the

firearm

count.

Howard

appealed

and

we

affirmed the convictions, but vacated the sentence and remanded
for resentencing, finding that the sentence was substantively
unreasonable.

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

Cir. 2014).
Upon resentencing, the court sentenced Howard to 175 months
of imprisonment for the drug convictions, plus the consecutive
statutory

mandatory

conviction.

minimum

of

60

months

for

the

firearm

Howard again appeals, arguing that the sentence is

substantively unreasonable.

Finding no error, we affirm.

We review a sentence for abuse of discretion, determining
whether

the

reasonable.
2009).

sentence

is

procedurally

and

substantively

United States v. Heath, 559 F.3d 263, 266 (4th Cir.

“If no procedural error was committed, [we] can only

vacate a sentence if it was substantively unreasonable in light
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of all relevant facts.”

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Id. (internal quotation marks omitted);

see also United States v. Evans, 526 F.3d 155, 160 (4th Cir.
2008) (“[A]n appellate court must defer to the trial court and
can reverse a sentence only if it is unreasonable, even if the
sentence

would

court.”).

not

have

been

the

choice

of

the

appellate

We have thoroughly reviewed the record and conclude

that the sentence is substantively reasonable.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
We

dispense

contentions

with
are

oral

argument

adequately

because

presented

in

the

facts

and

the

materials

legal
before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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