UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 21-4305
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
ANTHONY SELLERS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at
Orangeburg. Margaret B. Seymour, Senior District Judge. (5:08-cr-00944-MBS-21)
Submitted: January 24, 2022 Decided: March 30, 2022
Before THACKER and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges, and SHEDD, Senior Circuit
Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
ON BRIEF: Parks N. Small, Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL
PUBLIC DEFENDER, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellant. M. Rhett DeHart, Acting
United States Attorney, Leesa Washington, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF
THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Greenville, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Anthony Sellers appeals from the district court’s amended order and opinion
granting relief and reducing his sentence pursuant to the First Step Act of 2018. * In his
opening brief, Sellers argued that the district court failed to adequately explain its reasons
for imposing what Sellers characterized as an upward variant sentence on Count 41, aiding
and abetting in the possession with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine within 1000
feet of a school, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C), 860(a), and 18 U.S.C.
§ 2. Sellers abandons this claim in his reply brief and argues instead that the district court
erred by failing to explain its reasons for not imposing a downward variant sentence on
Count 41. Because he failed to raise this issue in his opening brief, it is waived. See
Grayson O Co. v. Agadir Int’l LLC, 856 F.3d 307, 316 (4th Cir. 2017) (recognizing that
issues raised for first time in reply brief are waived). Accordingly, we affirm the district
court’s order. United States v. Sellers, No. 5:08-cr-00944-MBS-21 (D.S.C. June 22, 2021).
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
*
Sellers filed a notice of appeal from the district court’s initial opinion and order
granting partial relief under the First Step Act. Because the court subsequently granted
Sellers’ motion for reconsideration, the initial order is no longer in effect.
2
United States v. Anthony Sellers
Combined Opinion