US v. Kenneth Hunter, No. 08-4460 (4th Cir. 2009)
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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 08-4460 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. KENNETH RAY HUNTER, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, at Elkins. Robert E. Maxwell, Senior District Judge. (2:05-cr-00049-REM-1) Submitted: January 26, 2009 Decided: March 30, 2009 Before MOTZ, TRAXLER, and KING, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Matthew A. Victor, VICTOR, VICTOR & HELGOE, LLP, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellant. Sharon L. Potter, United States Attorney, Stephen D. Warner, Assistant United States Attorney, Elkins, West Virginia, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Kenneth Ray Hunter pled guilty pursuant to a written plea agreement distribution to of one more count than of 500 aiding grams of and abetting the methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A) (2006), and was sentenced arguing to his 210 months sentence in is prison. Hunter unreasonable. timely Finding no appealed, error, we affirm. We applying States, review an abuse 128 defendant, S. a Ct. a of criminal sentence discretion 586, district 594-97 court for standard. (2007). must reasonableness, Gall When properly v. United sentencing calculate a the guidelines range, determine whether a sentence within that range serves the factors set out in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) (2006), and explain its reasons for selecting a sentence. United States v. Pauley, 511 F.3d 468, 473 (4th Cir 2007). On appellate review, we properly may presume a sentence within the calculated Id.; see Rita v. United States, guidelines range is reasonable. 551 U.S. 338, __, 127 S. Ct. 2456, 2462-69 (2007) (upholding appellate presumption of reasonableness for a within-guidelines sentence). Hunter his sentence, circumstances, challenges asserting his the substantive that, sentence was 2 under the reasonableness totality inordinately of lengthy. of the In support of this argument, he argues that the district court gave too little weight to § 3553(a) considerations such as his rehabilitation, support from his family and community, and his health, and placed undue weight on deterrence and the need to protect the public. However, a review of the sentencing transcript and the presentence report ( PSR ) reveals no error in sentencing. While a district court must explain its sentence, it need not robotically tick through § 3553(a) s every subsection. United States v. Montes-Pineda, 445 F.3d 375, 380 (4th Cir. 2006). Here, the court explained that Hunter had a lengthy and troubling criminal history that covered twenty pages in the PSR and spanned twenty years. offense of violence. collecting The court also found that the instant a drug debt had potential for serious Moreover, the court explained that previous periods of incarceration had not deterred Hunter from criminal conduct. The court found that based upon the seriousness of the crime and the need to protect the public and deter further criminal conduct, a variance from the guidelines range was not warranted. The district court properly calculated the guidelines range, considered provided rebut ample the the appropriate reasoning presumption for that its his guidelines sentence is reasonable. 3 § 3553(a) sentence. properly factors, Hunter calculated, does and not within- Accordingly, we affirm the district court s judgment. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED 4
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