United States v. Ceballos-Santa Cruz, No. 13-3219 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his 18-month sentence imposed after he violated his conditions of supervised release. A district court may rely on a defendant's actual conduct rather than the offense to which he pled guilty in classifying his supervised release violation under the sentencing guidelines. The court concluded that the sentence imposed by the district court was substantively reasonable where the district court treated defendant's Arizona conviction as a "Grade B" violation because his actual conduct constituted an offense punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year. The district court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing defendant at the top of his guidelines range for violating the conditions of his supervised release. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
Court Description: Criminal Case - revocation of supervised release. Sentence of 18 months was substantively reasonable, as district court relied on actual conduct rather than the offense to which he pled guilty in classifying the supervised release violation. District court did not err in treating his state conviction as a Grade B, rather than a Grade C, violation, and relied on appropriate factors in determining the sentence.
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