Case: 16-10184 Date Filed: 10/04/2016 Page: 1 of 4
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 16-10184
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 3:10-cr-00053-ACC-GJK-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
JOSHUA ANTHONY CHINNI,
a.k.a. Alamin Mohammad Jafar,
a.k.a. Al Amin,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
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(October 4, 2016)
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Before HULL, MARCUS, and WILSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Joshua Chinni appeals his 21-month term of imprisonment as substantively
unreasonable. This sentence was imposed upon revocation of Chinni’s supervised
release. After a careful review of the parties’ briefs and the record, we affirm.
Chinni pled guilty to mailing, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1038(a)(1), a letter
to a federal courthouse stating that the letter envelope contained anthrax. Chinni
was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised
release. The probation office petitioned for revocation of Chinni’s supervised
release in 2013, citing five violations including two positive drug tests (of which
Chinni admitted to). At that time, the district court permitted Chinni to remain on
supervision. However, only ten months later he was arrested and the probation
office filed another petition for revocation, this time citing 11 violations (10 of
which Chinni admitted to). The United States Sentencing Guidelines’
recommended range for these violations was 21 to 27 months’ imprisonment. The
statutory maximum however was 24 months, so Chinni’s guideline range became
21 to 24 months’ imprisonment. The district court revoked Chinni’s release and
sentenced him to 21 months imprisonment.
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Chinni now argues that his 21-month sentence is substantively
unreasonable.1 The party who challenges the sentence bears the burden of
showing that the sentence is “unreasonable in light of the record and the 18 U.S.C.
§ 3553(a) factors.” United States v. Tome, 611 F.3d 1371, 1378 (11th Cir. 2008).
The district court may, after finding a violation of a defendant’s supervised release
conditions and considering certain factors in § 3553(a), “revoke a term of
supervised release, and require the defendant to serve in prison all or part of the
term of supervised release authorized by statute for the offense that resulted in such
term of supervised release without credit for time previously served on postrelease
supervision,” albeit subject to the listed maximums. 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3).
To determine if a sentence is substantively unreasonable, we must consider
the “totality of the circumstances.” Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51, 128 S.
Ct. 585, 597 (2007). We will reverse only if left with the “definite and firm
conviction” that the district court committed a clear error of judgment in weighing
the [relevant] § 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. Irey,
612 F.3d 1160, 1190 (11th Cir. 2010) (en banc) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Furthermore, although a sentence within the guideline range is not automatically
1
Both parties’ briefs suggest applying a plain-error standard of review to Chinni’s argument that
his sentence is substantively unreasonable. However, our precedent is unclear on this issue.
Because Chinni’s arguments fail regardless of the standard of review, we need not decide the
correct standard is in this case.
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presumed to be reasonable, it is generally expected to be so. United States v.
Docampo, 573 F.3d 1093, 1101 (11th Cir. 2009) (quoting United States v. Talley,
431 F.3d 784, 788 (11th Cir. 2005) (per curiam)).
Chinni fails to demonstrate that his 21-month sentence is substantively
unreasonable. Chinni repeatedly violated the terms of his supervised release,
despite the fact that the district court gave him a second chance after the probation
office’s first petition for revocation. And the mitigating facts he cites, such as his
newfound stability after a reunion with his father and alleged drug-free year, are
undercut by his 15-month absconding from probation. His lengthy criminal history
(including violent offenses) and continued disregard for the law justify his
sentence. Finally, although Chinni asserts that the district court should have given
additional weight to his individual characteristics, the court acknowledged
Chinni’s situation by sentencing him at the low end of the guidelines range and
below the statutory maximum. See Docampo, 573 F.3d at 1101. Based on this
record, we cannot conclude that the district court erred in sentencing Chinni to 21
months’ imprisonment.
AFFIRMED.
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