Case: 14-14128 Date Filed: 03/10/2017 Page: 1 of 3
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 14-14010; 14-14128
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket Nos. 1:14-cr-00069-CG-C-1,
1:07-cr-00161-CG-C-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
DEVENCHI MORTEZ BULLARD,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Alabama
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(March 10, 2017)
Before WILLIAM PRYOR, MARTIN and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
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Devenchi Mortez Bullard appeals his sentence of 57 months of
imprisonment for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and for violating the
terms of his supervised release. Bullard argues that the district court erroneously
relied on hearsay evidence that Bullard possessed drugs in determining his
sentence. Because the district court based its sentence on reliable evidence, we
affirm.
Officer Jamal Pettway testified that, while he and other officers were waiting
to execute a search warrant on a residence in Mobile, a confidential informant
reported that Bullard was inside the residence with three “cookies” of cocaine base.
The officers entered the residence and saw Bullard playing a video game in close
proximity to a kitchen table on which was lying what appeared to be crack cocaine
and to shelves that contained at least three and one half “cookies” of cocaine base,
Xanax pills, and synthetic marijuana. The officers seized from Bullard a firearm
and $2,000 in cash, and they discovered inside a bedroom closet a bag marked with
Bullard’s name that contained several measuring cups with a white powder
residue, whisking equipment, and masks commonly used to process cocaine base.
Later, Pettway interviewed Sherry Marston, who said that she believed Bullard was
the ring leader in selling drugs from the residence.
We reject Bullard’s argument that the district court relied on hearsay
evidence in determining his sentence. See United States v. Ghertler, 605 F.3d
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1256, 1269 (11th Cir. 2010) (“To prevail on a challenge to a sentence based on the
consideration of [unreliable] information, a defendant must show . . . that the
challenged evidence . . . actually served as the basis for the sentence.”). The record
establishes that the district court did not base its decision on the statements that the
informant and Marston made to Pettway. The district court stated that it was
holding Bullard responsible for the drugs in the residence based on “the
circumstances” that he was in a residence “with crack cocaine and other drugs all
around” and he was in possession of drug paraphernalia, a large quantity of cash,
and a firearm. Pettway provided firsthand information on which the district court
based its finding that Bullard possessed drugs in connection with his firearm
offense and with his violation of his supervised release.
We AFFIRM Bullard’s sentence.
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