United States v. Gregory Avery

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 20-7545 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. GREGORY LAMONT AVERY, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Terrence W. Boyle, District Judge. (5:15-cr-00157-BO-1) Submitted: April 30, 2021 Decided: June 15, 2021 Before MOTZ, KEENAN, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Gregory Lamont Avery, Appellant Pro Se. David A. Bragdon, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Gregory Lamont Avery appeals the district court’s order denying his motion for compassionate release pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), as amended by the First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-391, § 603(b)(1), 132 Stat. 5194, 5239. Upon review, we discern no abuse of discretion in the district court’s determination that, under the pertinent 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors, compassionate release was not warranted. See United States v. Kibble, 992 F.3d 326, 329 (4th Cir. 2021) (providing standard of review and outlining steps for evaluating compassionate release motions); see also United States v. High, 997 F.3d 181, 189 (4th Cir. 2021) (explaining district court is not categorically required to “acknowledge and address each of the defendant’s arguments on the record” in support of § 3582(c)(1)(A) motion (emphasis omitted)). Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order and deny Avery’s motion to appoint counsel. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED 2