UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 04-4287
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
LYNN GARY SMITH,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Fox, Senior
District Judge. (CR-03-93)
Submitted: August 15, 2005 Decided: August 26, 2005
Before WILLIAMS, KING, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Walter H. Paramore, III, LAW OFFICES OF WALTER H. PARAMORE, III,
P.C., Jacksonville, North Carolina, for Appellant. Frank D.
Whitney, United States Attorney, Anne M. Hayes, Christine Witcover
Dean, Assistant United States Attorneys, Raleigh, North Carolina,
for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Lynn Gary Smith appeals his seventy-month sentence
imposed after he pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a
firearm (Count 1), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (2000),
and possessing with intent to distribute at least five grams of
crack cocaine (Count 2) in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)
(2000).1 Smith’s counsel has filed a brief, as supplemented,
pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), asserting
that Smith’s sentence is unconstitutional in light of Blakely v.
Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004), and United States v. Booker, 125
S. Ct. 738 (2005). Counsel states, however, that in his view there
are no meritorious issues for appeal. Smith was informed of his
right to file a pro se supplemental brief but has not done so. We
affirm.2
Smith’s counsel first asserts that the district court
sentenced Smith in violation of the Sixth Amendment because the
court determined drug quantity by a preponderance of the evidence.
Because Smith did not raise this issue in the district court, we
review for plain error. See United States v. Hughes, 401 F.3d 540,
1
Smith also pled guilty to using or carrying a firearm during
and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18
U.S.C.A. § 924(c) (West 2000 & Supp. 2005). He does not challenge
on appeal his conviction or consecutive sixty-month sentence.
2
In light of our disposition of this case, we deny the
Government’s motion and supplemental motion for summary affirmance
as moot. See 4th Cir. R. 27(f).
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547 (4th Cir. 2005). To demonstrate plain error, Smith must
establish that error occurred, that it was plain, and that it
affected his substantial rights. Id. at 547-48. If a defendant
establishes these requirements, the court’s “discretion is
appropriately exercised only when failure to do so would result in
a miscarriage of justice, such as when the defendant is actually
innocent or the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity or
public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Id. at 555 (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted).
In Booker, the Supreme Court held that the mandatory
manner in which the federal sentencing guidelines required courts
to impose sentencing enhancements based on facts found by the court
by a preponderance of the evidence violated the Sixth Amendment.
125 S. Ct. at 746, 750 (Stevens, J., opinion of the Court). The
Court remedied the constitutional violation by making the
Guidelines advisory through the removal of two statutory provisions
that had rendered them mandatory. Id. at 746 (Stevens, J., opinion
of the Court); id. at 756-67 (Breyer, J., opinion of the Court).
Here, the district court attributed to Smith 14.3 grams
of crack cocaine,3 thereby establishing a base offense level of
twenty-six under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 2D1.1(c)(7)
(2003). With a criminal history category of II, the applicable
3
The court also attributed 9.7 grams of marijuana to Smith.
This amount does not affect the calculation of Smith’s offense
level.
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guideline range was seventy to eighty-seven months of imprisonment.
Using only the amount of crack charged in Count 2 of the indictment
(i.e., five grams), the base offense level — and, consequently, the
guideline range — is the same as that established by the district
court. See USSG § 2D1.1(c)(7) (providing for base offense level of
twenty-six where offense involves at least five but less than
twenty grams of crack). We therefore find no plain error in
Smith’s sentence because the sentence does not violate the Sixth
Amendment.
Next, counsel asserts that Smith’s sentence violates
Booker because the district court sentenced Smith under the
mandatory sentencing guidelines scheme and did not consider the
factors in 18 U.S.C.A. § 3553(a) (West 2000 & Supp. 2005). We
review this claim for plain error and find none. See United
States v. White, 405 F.3d 208, 215 (4th Cir. 2005) (stating
standard of review). Although we held in White that treating the
guidelines as mandatory constitutes plain error, see id. at 216-17,
our review of the record leads us to conclude that there is no
nonspeculative basis on which we could conclude that the district
court would have sentenced Smith to a lesser sentence had the court
proceeded under an advisory guideline scheme. See id. at 223
(finding that defendant failed to meet burden of demonstrating
actual prejudice where “the district court made certain statements
suggesting that it was content to sentence [the defendant] within
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the guideline range”). Thus, Smith has failed to demonstrate that
the plain error in sentencing him under a mandatory guidelines
scheme affected his substantial rights.
In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the entire
record for any meritorious issues and have found none.
Accordingly, we affirm Smith’s convictions and sentence. This
court requires that counsel inform his client, in writing, of his
right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States for
further review. If the client requests that a petition be filed,
but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then
counsel may move in this court for leave to withdraw from
representation. Counsel’s motion must state that a copy thereof
was served on the client. 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
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