259 results for 'cat:"Drug Offender" AND cat:"Sentencing"'.
J. Lawrence finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, but improperly convicted him for conspiracy to sell methamphetamine, as evidence was insufficient to support the conviction. Defendant’s 60-year sentence as a habitual offender for the possession conviction remains intact, but his concurrent 20-year sentence for the conspiracy conviction is reversed. Reversed in part.
Court: Mississippi Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lawrence, Filed On: October 10, 2023, Case #: 2022-KA-00179-COA, Categories: drug Offender, Evidence, sentencing
J. McMullen finds the lower court improperly sentenced defendant in this matter of theft, drugs and firearms. Defendant was convicted of possession of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver, possession of a firearm with intent to go armed during the commission of a dangerous felony, theft of property up to $1,000, and possession of unlawful drug paraphernalia for selling drugs car-to-car at a Sonic drive-in restaurant, and being found with marijuana and a stolen firearm in his backpack. Defendant received an effective five-year sentence to be served in confinement, but because he was eligible for probation for the theft and drug-related convictions, the instant court finds the lower court did not properly consider alternative sentencing. The matter is remanded for resentencing. Reversed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: McMullen, Filed On: October 9, 2023, Case #: W2022-01041-CCA-R3-CD, Categories: drug Offender, Firearms, sentencing
J. Raider finds that defendant was improperly sentenced to imprisonment following revocation of pre-trial diversion based on his guilty plea to trafficking in a controlled substance. Although he was terminated from a drug court program in 2018 for absconding, the commonwealth did not move to revoke diversion at that time, and the diversionary period has since expired. Reversed.
Court: Kentucky Court Of Appeals, Judge: Jones, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: 2022-CA-1070-MR, Categories: Criminal Procedure, drug Offender, sentencing
Per curiam, the Fifth Circuit finds the district court properly denied the inmate’s motion for a sentence reduction. Convicted for using, carrying or possessing a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. A cited change to the applicable sentencing framework is non-retroactive and does not qualify as an “extraordinary and compelling reason” for a sentence reduction. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 5, 2023, Case #: 22-40373, Categories: drug Offender, Firearms, sentencing
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J. Klappenbach finds that the trial court properly revoked defendant's probation, which had been imposed for drug-related offenses. Defendant failed to report, failed to provide medical documentation, failed to obtain an assessment as directed, failed to pay court costs, and failed to make contact with his supervising officer after his release from jail. All evidence supports the revocation, and no error is found. The case is remanded to correct an error on the sentencing order, which does not state that it regards a probation revocation. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Klappenbach , Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: CR-22-771, Categories: drug Offender, Probation, sentencing
J. Thompson finds that defendant was properly convicted of distribution of cocaine and marijuana. In this case, there was police officer testimony that defendant sold drugs to a confidential informant. Further, based on surveillance video, the confidential informant was seen getting into defendant's vehicle, and the containers for the cocaine and marijuana can clearly be seen. Also, defendant's sentence as third felony offender of 20 years on each count, to run concurrently, is the minimum sentence on each charge under the statute for a third felony. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Thompson, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 53,345-KA, Categories: drug Offender, Evidence, sentencing
J. Rossman finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendant on his drug conviction. While the lower court properly imposed a firearms enhancement on his sentence, defendant was wrongfully denied a "safety-valve" reduction that he was eligible for due to not knowing about a firearm found in a mobile home. His sentence needs to be recalculated as a result. Reversed in part.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Rossman, Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 21-7054, Categories: drug Offender, sentencing
J. Eaton finds that the trial court improperly imposed a release condition on defendant, who was charged with false pretenses and violating conditions of release on prior charges. He was ordered to attend court and engage in drug rehabilitation treatment. The court did not prove that was a reasonable measure to protect the public or mitigate a flight risk. Reversed.
Court: Vermont Supreme Court, Judge: Eaton, Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 23-AP-288, Categories: drug Offender, sentencing, Bail
J. Wright finds the trial court properly assessed $937 in court costs for defendant's conviction of possession of less than 1 gram of meth. Though the trial court did not orally pronounce a $500 fine, and so could not include it in the final judgment, the same rule does not apply to taxable costs, which are not part of the punishment. Defendant has not shown that the court erred by rendering a judgment including $937 in taxable costs. The $500 fine is deleted. Affirmed as modified.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wright , Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: 09-22-00198-CR, Categories: drug Offender, sentencing, Due Process
J. Ikuta affirms in part and vacates in part a sentence imposed on defendant after she alleged that her due process rights were violated when the district court failed to pronounce certain discretionary conditions of supervised release in her presence. A district court must orally pronounce all discretionary conditions of supervised release, even if those conditions were considered "standard." Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of knowingly and intentionally importing 500 grams or more of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States. The panel vacated only the conditions of defendant’s supervised release that were referred to as the “standard conditions” in the written sentence but were not orally pronounced. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Ikuta, Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 21-50129, Categories: drug Offender, sentencing, Due Process
J. Kamins finds the sentencing court properly denied post-conviction relief to defendant, convicted of burglary, theft, criminal mischief and unlawful possession of methamphetamine. Mandell v. Miller. Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Kamins, Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: A177238, Categories: Burglary, drug Offender, sentencing
J. Lee finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant to 300 months in prison for distributing meth, including an obstruction of justice enhancement. The evidence clearly shows that defendant made a phone call instructing an associate to "get the stash out of the house" and hide evidence of drug trafficking after he found out the house was going to be searched. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Lee, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 22-2131, Categories: drug Offender, sentencing, Obstruction
J. Wiener finds the district court improperly reapplied a firearm enhancement to defendant’s sentence for his guilty plea conviction for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute meth. Upon arrest, defendant was found sitting near a firearm, supporting constructing possession. Defendant offered rebuttal evidence at trial to the government’s argument that a temporal and spatial relation existed between the weapon, the drug trafficking activity and the defendant. This evidence was not properly considered at resentencing. Vacated and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Wiener, Filed On: September 8, 2023, Case #: 22-10452, Categories: drug Offender, Firearms, sentencing
[Consolidated]. J. Erickson finds a lower court properly convicted a male Mexican national for conspiracy to commit money laundering and distributing meth, but may have erred in convicting a female Mexican national on the same charges. The government argued that the female Mexican national was in close proximity to meth while barricaded in a room, carried a knife in her purse, and attempted to flush drugs down a toilet, which resulted in a sentence of 180 months in prison. However, she presented sufficient evidence in court that she was inside the residence to cook, clean, and provide child care, and may be entitled to judgment of acquittal. Reversed in part.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Erickson, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 22-2914, Categories: drug Offender, sentencing, Money Laundering
J. Easter finds the lower court properly denied defendant’s request for alternative sentencing. Defendant pleaded guilty to the facilitation and sale of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in a controlled buy. A six-year sentence was agreed upon, but the manner in which he would serve was left to the court; it chose incarceration. While the lower court did abuse its discretion in sentencing the defendant without the use of a proper presentence report and failing to consider the risk and needs assessment, the issues are waived because he did not object at his sentencing hearing. Affirmed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Easter, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: W2022-01092-CCA-R3-CD, Categories: drug Offender, sentencing
J. Bush finds the trial court properly applied a managerial role sentencing enhancement after defendant was convicted of drug trafficking. Although he was not the ringleader of the trafficking operation, he received a larger share of profits than others in the outfit and coordinated meetings to exchange wholesale shipments of heroin for cash. Meanwhile, a firearm enhancement was also proper based on evidence obtained from jail calls defendant made to his girlfriend, during which he told her a gun was hidden under the porch of his home, a statement sufficient to prove constructive possession of the weapon. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Bush, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 22-5600, Categories: drug Offender, Firearms, sentencing
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly applied a two-level enhancement in sentencing defendant based on his guilty plea to conspiring to sell heroin and fentanyl. Defendant contends the enhancement for having a "drug-distribution premises" was procedurally unreasonable, but while he no longer lived at the residence, defendant kept the apartment and, by his own admission, continued to sell narcotics from the place. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: 22-331-cr, Categories: drug Offender, sentencing
J. Nalbandian finds the trial court properly used a state drug conviction to set defendant's base sentencing level for possession of an illegal firearm. Federal sentencing guidelines do not require the use of the Controlled Substances Act and give courts discretion to use a qualifying state court conviction. Meanwhile, the trial court properly added a sentencing enhancement for reckless endangerment because defendant's conduct, which included firing the gun outside his home all day and briefly barricading himself in the property when police arrived, unquestionably put police and bystanders in danger. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Nalbandian, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: 22-1280, Categories: drug Offender, Firearms, sentencing
J. Clay finds the trial court erroneously failed to provide its own analysis and instead used the "crack-to-powder" ratio set by Congress to set the base offense level for defendant's sentence on drug and weapons charges. The trial court "failed to appreciate the scope of its discretion" to determine the proper ratio. The trial court also failed to respond to defendant's argument that anything other than a 1:1 ratio would result in an excessive sentence and, therefore, his sentence will be vacated and the case will be remanded for resentencing. Vacated in part.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Clay, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 21-1824, Categories: drug Offender, Firearms, sentencing
J. Joyce finds the post-conviction court properly denied relief to defendant, convicted of drug offenses. “Given that petitioner has admitted that he was guilty of the substantive crime, the validity of his convictions cannot be affected by any antecedent constitutional infirmity of the police’s search because his convictions do not rest in any way on evidence that may have been improperly seized; instead, his convictions rest on his guilty plea.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Joyce, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: A175317, Categories: drug Offender, Evidence, sentencing
J. Frisch reverses the defendant's sentence for drug and firearm-related offenses, finding that he did not expressly or implicitly waive his right to counsel after dismissing his existing counsel, and so should not have been required to proceed pro se at his sentencing hearing. The district court did not advise the defendant of the consequences of discharging his counsel or proceeding pro se at the sentencing. Reversed.
Court: Minnesota Court Of Appeals, Judge: Frisch, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: A22-1333, Categories: drug Offender, sentencing, Self Representation