United States v. Jeremiah Butler-Jackson ( 2023 )


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  • USCA11 Case: 22-10694    Document: 25-1     Date Filed: 01/30/2023   Page: 1 of 6
    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
    In the
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Eleventh Circuit
    ____________________
    No. 22-10694
    Non-Argument Calendar
    ____________________
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    versus
    JEREMIAH BUTLER-JACKSON,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    ____________________
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Middle District of Florida
    D.C. Docket No. 8:20-cr-00008-WFJ-CPT-1
    ____________________
    USCA11 Case: 22-10694     Document: 25-1     Date Filed: 01/30/2023    Page: 2 of 6
    2                      Opinion of the Court               22-10694
    Before JORDAN, JILL PRYOR, and LUCK, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM:
    Jeremiah Butler-Jackson appeals the substantive reasonable-
    ness of his fifty-month prison sentence, an upward variance from
    the guideline range of twenty-seven to thirty-three months, for
    possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. We
    affirm.
    FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
    Butler-Jackson pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm and
    ammunition by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec-
    tions 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). The district court originally sen-
    tenced Butler-Jackson to fifty months’ imprisonment—an upward
    variance from the sentencing guideline range of thirty to thirty-
    seven months based on a criminal history category of VI.
    On appeal, we concluded that the district court plainly erred
    by calculating criminal history points for four of Butler-Jackson’s
    juvenile convictions for which adjudication was withheld. See
    United States v. Butler-Jackson, No. 20-14843, 
    2022 WL 41728
    , at
    *2 (11th Cir. Jan. 5, 2022) (unpublished). Accordingly, we vacated
    his sentence and remanded for the district court to correctly calcu-
    late his guideline range and resentence him considering the cor-
    rected range. Id. at *3.
    On remand, probation recalculated Butler-Jackson’s guide-
    line range, which turned out to be twenty-seven to thirty-three
    USCA11 Case: 22-10694      Document: 25-1     Date Filed: 01/30/2023     Page: 3 of 6
    22-10694               Opinion of the Court                         3
    months based on a criminal history category of V. At the resen-
    tencing hearing, the district court adopted the amended presen-
    tence investigation report, and neither party objected to the recal-
    culated range.
    Butler-Jackson acknowledged his escalating criminal history
    but noted that he was a victim of domestic abuse by his mother,
    lacked paternal support or a father figure, grew up in a disadvan-
    taged socioeconomic environment, and suffered from intellectual
    disability (a low IQ), substance abuse, and mental health problems.
    The district court observed that this was Butler-Jackson’s third fire-
    arm felony, he committed it while out on bond for a previous rob-
    bery (which he committed about two months after a previous fire-
    arm felony), and he possessed a semiautomatic pistol. The district
    court also noted that Butler-Jackson had a criminal history category
    of V by age nineteen, including three firearm charges and one
    shooting, as well as numerous probation violations.
    The district court sentenced Butler-Jackson to fifty months’
    imprisonment. In explaining the upward variance, the district
    court cited the need to promote respect for the law, provide ade-
    quate deterrence, and protect the public. The district court re-
    capped Butler-Jackson’s significant criminal history at a very young
    age, which appeared to be escalating—including the prior robbery
    while out on bond, his firearm possession in this case while out on
    bond for the robbery, the three firearm felonies, the shooting, mul-
    tiple burglaries, numerous violations of probation, and an apparent
    inability to comply with any noncustodial sentence. Butler-Jackson
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    4                       Opinion of the Court                   22-10694
    objected to the upward variance and to the substantive reasonable-
    ness of the sentence, arguing that the mitigating evidence war-
    ranted relief and that the upward variance wasn’t supported by the
    record.
    STANDARD OF REVIEW
    When reviewing for substantive reasonableness, we con-
    sider the totality of the circumstances under a deferential
    abuse-of-discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 
    552 U.S. 38
    , 51
    (2007). The party challenging the sentence bears the burden of es-
    tablishing that it’s unreasonable based on the facts of the case and
    the section 3553(a) factors. United States v. Tome, 
    611 F.3d 1371
    ,
    1378 (11th Cir. 2010).
    DISCUSSION
    Butler-Jackson argues that the district court abused its dis-
    cretion by imposing the same fifty-month sentence as it imposed
    when it erroneously calculated his criminal history category. He
    contends that the district court should’ve weighed the mitigating
    factors of his difficult upbringing, low IQ, and mental health and
    substance abuse problems more heavily than the aggravating fac-
    tors that prompted an upward variance.
    A district court abuses its discretion when it (1) fails to afford
    consideration to relevant factors that were due significant weight,
    (2) gives significant weight to an improper or irrelevant factor, or
    (3) commits a clear error of judgment in considering the proper
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    22-10694               Opinion of the Court                        5
    factors. United States v. Irey, 
    612 F.3d 1160
    , 1189 (11th Cir. 2010)
    (en banc). The proper factors are set out in section 3553(a) and in-
    clude the nature and circumstances of the offense; the history and
    characteristics of the defendant; the seriousness of the crime; the
    need to promote respect for the law, provide just punishment and
    adequate deterrence, and protect the public from further crimes of
    the defendant; and the guideline range. 
    18 U.S.C. § 3553
    (a).
    We’ve “underscored” that we must give “due deference” to
    the district court to consider and weigh the proper sentencing fac-
    tors. United States v. Shabazz, 
    887 F.3d 1204
    , 1224 (11th Cir. 2018)
    (quotation omitted). Along with the section 3553(a) factors, the
    district court should consider the particularized facts of the case
    and the guideline range. United States v. Rosales-Bruno, 
    789 F.3d 1249
    , 1259–60 (11th Cir. 2015). But the district court has discretion
    to give heavier weight to any of the section 3553(a) factors (or com-
    bination of factors) than to the guideline range. 
    Id. at 1259
    .
    The district court also has wide discretion to decide whether
    the section 3553(a) factors justify a variance. United States v. Ro-
    driguez, 
    628 F.3d 1258
    , 1264 (11th Cir. 2010), abrogated on other
    grounds by Van Buren v. United States, 
    141 S. Ct. 1648 (2021)
    . We
    don’t presume that a sentence outside the guideline range is unrea-
    sonable, and we give deference to the district court’s decision that
    the section 3553(a) factors support its chosen sentence. Irey, 
    612 F.3d at 1187
    . The district court’s justification for a variance must
    be “sufficiently compelling to support the degree of the variance.”
    
    Id.
     at 1186–87 (quotation omitted). A sentence that’s well below
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    6                      Opinion of the Court                 22-10694
    the statutory maximum for the crime is an indicator of its reasona-
    bleness. United States v. Dougherty, 
    754 F.3d 1353
    , 1364 (11th Cir.
    2014).
    The district court didn’t abuse its discretion in imposing the
    same sentence on remand despite the lowering of Butler-Jackson’s
    criminal history category from VI to V. The district court carefully
    laid out its reasoning in light of the section 3553(a) factors and the
    aggravating factors of Butler-Jackson’s serious criminal history at a
    young age. The district court was within its wide discretion to give
    greater weight to Butler-Jackson’s criminal history than to his mit-
    igating circumstances and determine that an upward variance was
    warranted. See Rosales-Bruno, 
    789 F.3d at 1263
     (“Under substan-
    tive reasonableness review, we have repeatedly affirmed sentences
    that included major upward variances from the guidelines for de-
    fendants with significant criminal histories that the sentencing
    courts weighed heavily.”). And the sentence remains well below
    the statutory maximum term of 120 months.
    AFFIRMED.