Rehearing granted, March 8, 2007
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 06-4843
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
JEFFREY STEVEN EVANS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Robert J. Conrad, Jr.,
Chief District Judge. (3:04-cr-00186-2)
Submitted: January 25, 2007 Decided: January 31, 2007
Before WIDENER and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
R. Deke Falls, BARNETT & FALLS, Charlotte, North Carolina, for
Appellant. Gretchen C.F. Shappert, United States Attorney, Thomas
Cullen, Assistant United States Attorney, Charlotte, North
Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Jeffrey Steven Evans pled guilty to conspiracy to possess
marijuana with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C.A. §§ 841, 846 (West
1999 & Supp. 2006) (Count One), and possession of a firearm by a
convicted felon, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (2000) (Count Four), and was
sentenced to a term of seventy-eight months imprisonment. Evans
appeals his sentence, alleging that his Sixth Amendment rights were
violated by the district court’s factual finding that he possessed
a firearm during the drug offense and application of a two-level
enhancement. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 2D1.1(b)(1)
(2005). We affirm.
In the district court, Evans contested the weapon
enhancement on factual grounds, but did not raise a Sixth Amendment
claim under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), and
Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004), which is his sole claim
here. We therefore review his claim for plain error. United
States v. Hughes, 401 F.3d 540, 547-48 (4th Cir. 2005). Following
the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S.
220 2005), the sentencing court is required to calculate the
appropriate advisory guideline range after making any necessary
findings of fact, and consider the range in conjunction with all
relevant factors under the guidelines and 18 U.S.C.A. § 3553(a)
(West 2000 & Supp. 2006), before imposing a sentence. Hughes, 401
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F.3d at 546-47. The district court followed this procedure. No
Sixth Amendment error occurred.
We therefore affirm the sentence imposed by 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
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