UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 13-4776
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
JULIAN LAVORT PHILLIPS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Catherine C. Eagles,
District Judge. (1:12-cr-00441-CCE-1)
Submitted: May 20, 2014 Decided: May 30, 2014
Before KEENAN and WYNN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Brian Michael Aus, BRIAN AUS ATTORNEY AT LAW, Durham, North
Carolina, for Appellant. Ripley Rand, United States Attorney,
JoAnna G. McFadden, Assistant United States Attorney,
Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Julian Lavort Phillips pled guilty to possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (2012), and
was sentenced to 112 months in prison. He appeals his sentence,
claiming that a four-level enhancement for abduction under U.S.
Sentencing Guidelines Manual (USSA) § 2B3.1(b)(4)(A) was
erroneous. We affirm.
We review sentences for procedural and substantive
reasonableness, applying an abuse-of-discretion standard.
Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). Miscalculation
of the Guidelines range is a significant procedural error. Id.
“In assessing whether a sentencing court properly applied the
Guidelines, we review the court’s factual findings for clear
error and its legal conclusions de novo.” United States v.
Osborne, 514 F.3d 377, 387 (4th Cir. 2008) (citation and
internal quotation marks omitted).
Phillips’ sole argument on appeal is that the district
court erroneously increased his offense level pursuant to USSG
§ 2B3.1(b)(4)(A), which permits the enhancement “[i]f any person
was abducted to facilitate commission of the offense or to
facilitate escape.” “‘Abducted’ means that a victim was forced
to accompany an offender to a different location.” USSG § 1B1.1
cmt. n. 1(A). We have adopted a “flexible, case by case
approach to determin[e] when movement to a different location
2
has occurred.” Osborne, 514 F.3d at 390 (internal quotation
marks omitted). “[E]ven a temporary abduction can constitute an
abduction for purposes of the sentencing guidelines.” United
States v. Nale, 101 F.3d 1000, 1003 (4th Cir. 1996).
We hold that the district court did not err in
applying the enhancement. The weight of the evidence
establishes that Phillips and Erin Childress went to a residence
with the intention of purchasing prescription pain medication.
Once inside, however, Phillips committed robbery and assaulted
two persons. He then grabbed Childress, pointed a gun at her,
and said that she “knew too much” and had to leave with him.
One victim told Childress that she did not have to leave with
Phillips; however, Childress testified that she was too afraid
not to comply. Another witness testified that Phillips was
pointing the gun at Childress as she got into the truck in which
she and Phillips left the scene.
The evidence shows that the abduction facilitated
Phillips’ escape. Childress was forced to accompany Phillips to
a different location, and Phillips abducted Childress because he
was afraid she would disclose his identity to law enforcement
officials if she remained at the residence.
Accordingly, we affirm Phillips’ sentence. We
dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
3
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the
Court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
4