Vacated by Supreme Court, February 28, 2005
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 04-4020
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
JAMES HOWARD HARRIS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Durham. William L. Osteen, District
Judge. (CR-03-192)
Submitted: October 7, 2004 Decided: October 13, 2004
Before WIDENER, NIEMEYER, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Walter L. Jones, CLIFFORD, CLENDENIN, O’HALE & JONES, LLP,
Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. Anna Mills Wagoner,
United States Attorney, Randall S. Galyon, Assistant United States
Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
James Howard Harris appeals from the judgment of the
district court convicting him of distribution of crack cocaine and
possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and sentencing him to
151 months of imprisonment. Finding no error, we affirm.
As his sole claim of error on appeal, Harris argues that
the district court’s application of the federal sentencing
guidelines violated his Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury. We
have considered this argument and rejected it. See United
States v. Hammoud, ___ F.3d ___, 2004 WL 2005622, at *28 (4th Cir.
Sept. 8, 2004) (No. 03-4253) (en banc); United States v. Hammoud,
378 F.3d 426 (4th Cir. 2004) (order), petition for cert. filed, ___
U.S.L.W. ___ (U.S. Aug. 6, 2004) (No. 04-193). Because Harris’
sentence did not exceed the statutory maximum sentence authorized
by law, see Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), we find no
error.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district
court. 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
- 2 -