[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUITU.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
FEB 04, 2010
No. 09-13938 JOHN LEY
Non-Argument Calendar ACTING CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 08-00364-CR-1-JTC-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
SHANNON LEON WILKINS,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
_________________________
(February 4, 2010)
Before TJOFLAT, BARKETT and HULL, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
In United States v. Wilkins, 58 Fed.Appx. 959 (4th Cir. 2003), the Fourth
Circuit affirmed appellant’s multiple convictions for fraud–mail fraud, bank fraud,
identity theft–and for social security offenses. The court also affirmed the prison
sentences appellant received, which totaled forty months, with a five-year term of
supervised release.
After she was released from prison and was serving her term of supervised
release, jurisdiction over her case was transferred from the Western District of
Virginia to the Northern District of Georgia. On April 2, 2009, the U.S. Probation
Office in that district petitioned the district court for an order to show cause why
her supervised release should not be revoked on several grounds. The order to
show cause issued, and the district court held a revocation hearing on July 22. At
the conclusion of the hearing, the court revoked the term of supervised release and
sentenced appellant to prison for eight months. She now appeals that sentence,
contending that it is procedurally and substantively unreasonable.
Appellant argues that her sentence is procedurally unreasonable because the
district court failed to calculate her Guidelines sentence range or mention the
statutory penalties. She notes that she and the Government informed the court that
the sentence range was four to ten months’ imprisonment, but argues that the court
never adopted or rejected this calculation. She analogizes her case to that of the
defendant in United States v. Campbell, 473 F.3d 1345 (11th Cir. 2007). She
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points out that, in Campbell, we found that the district court erred during the
revocation hearing in failing to mention the Guidelines, even though the parties
informed the court of the applicable Guidelines sentence range.
We review “the sentence imposed upon the revocation of supervised release
for reasonableness.” United States v. Velasquez, 524 F.3d 1248, 1252 (11th Cir.
2008). “For sentences imposed upon revocation of supervised release, the
recommended sentencing range is based on the classification of the conduct that
resulted in the revocation and the criminal history category applicable at the time
the defendant originally was sentenced to the term of supervision.” Campbell,
473 F.3d at 1348-49. “[B]ecause the Guidelines have always been advisory for
sentences imposed upon revocation of supervised release, it is sufficient that there
be some indication that the district court was aware of and considered the
Guidelines, which requires the court to consider the sentencing range established
under the Guidelines.” Id. at 1349 (quotations and citations omitted).
In Campbell, we were unable to review a sentence imposed upon revocation
of supervised release because: (1) “the district court never explicitly mentioned
Campbell’s advisory Guidelines range during the revocation hearing;” and (2) “the
district court never mentioned the criminal classification of the crime for which
Campbell’s supervised release was revoked.” Campbell, 473 F.3d at 1349. We
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noted that the only mention of the Guidelines was when defense counsel stated that
the Guidelines sentence range was “21 months and up,” and the government noted
that a twenty-four months’ sentence was “within the guideline range.” Id. at 1349
n.2. We thus concluded that we could not determine from the record whether the
court considered the applicable Guidelines sentence range. Id. at 1349.
Appellant and the Government correctly informed the district court of the
applicable sentence range during the supervised release revocation hearing.
Appellant even acknowledged that the court was aware of the applicable range,
when she noted that “[t]he sentencing guidelines here are four to ten months as the
court knows[.]” When the Government dismissed the remaining violations from
the probation officer’s (“PO”) petition for revocation, the court asked whether this
dismissal affected appellant’s Guidelines sentence range. Thus, unlike in
Campbell, the record reveals that the district court “was aware of and considered
the Guidelines” and “consider[ed] the sentencing range established under the
Guidelines.” Campbell, 473 F.3d at 1348-49. Accordingly, appellant’s sentence is
procedurally reasonable.
Appellant argues that her sentence is substantively unreasonable because she
committed only minor violations of the terms of her supervised release. She notes
that she “performed admirably” for over four years of her supervised release as she
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did not commit new crimes, fail drug tests, abscond from supervision, or fail to pay
restitution to the victims of her crimes. She adds that she admitted her violations
to the court, and that, in light of the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors, her
sentence is “much too harsh.”
We review the reasonableness of a sentence for abuse of discretion. Gall v.
United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51, 128 S.Ct. 586, 597, 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007). The
factors that a district court must consider in sentencing a defendant after a
revocation of supervised release include: (1) the nature and circumstances of the
offense and the defendant’s history and characteristics; (2) the need for the
sentence to deter criminal conduct, to protect the public from the defendant’s
further crimes, and to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational
training, medical care, or other correctional treatment; (3) the sentencing guideline
range; (4) any pertinent policy statement; (5) the need to avoid unwarranted
sentence disparities among similarly situated defendants; and (6) the need to
provide restitution to victims of the offense. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 3553(a) and
3583(e). Appellant has the burden of establishing that her sentence is unreasonable
in light of the record and the § 3553(a) factors. United States v. Talley, 431 F.3d
784, 788 (11th Cir. 2005). Although a sentence within the advisory Guidelines
sentence range is not per se reasonable, we ordinarily expect such a sentence to be
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reasonable. Id. at 787-88. We remand if the district court has “committed a clear
error of judgment in weighing the § 3553(a) factors by arriving at a sentence that
lies outside the range of reasonable sentences dictated by the facts of the case.”
United States v. McBride, 511 F.3d 1293, 1297-98 (11th Cir. 2007).
Here, the district court sentenced appellant to a term within her sentence
range, after considering facts that relate to the § 3553(a) factors, and such her
sentence is ordinarily expected to be reasonable. See Talley, 431 F.3d at 788. In
her brief, she argues that she only committed minor violations of the terms of her
supervised release. However, she potentially committed a federal offense by
falsifying information on her monthly report to her probation officer. See 18
U.S.C. § 1001 (criminalizing the falsification of information in any matter within
the jurisdiction of the judicial branch).
Appellant also argues that her status as a transgendered individual renders
the sentence unduly harsh. The Government, however, informed the court that the
Bureau of Prisons would provide her with the proper medical treatment if she were
placed in custody. She informed the court about her distress at being placed in
isolation, but also noted that the prison took such action for her safety. Thus,
despite her argument that her sentence is unduly harsh, the record nevertheless
does not show that the court committed a clear error of judgment in weighing the
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factors. McBride, 511 F.3d at 1297-98. Accordingly, the sentence is substantively
reasonable.
AFFIRMED.
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