US v. Sonya Douglas, No. 08-4771 (4th Cir. 2009)
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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 08-4771 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. SONYA CHARISSE DOUGLAS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Robert J. Conrad, Jr., Chief District Judge. (3:07-cr-00073-RJC-1) Submitted: March 23, 2009 Decided: April 14, 2009 Before NIEMEYER, MOTZ, and AGEE, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Claire J. Rauscher, Executive Director, Ann L. Hester, Cecilia Oseguera, FEDERAL DEFENDERS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, INC., Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant. Amy Elizabeth Ray, Assistant United States Attorney, Asheville, North Carolina; Kenneth Michel Smith, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Sonya Charisse Douglas pleaded guilty to making false statements Douglas in was appeals. violation sentenced of to 18 five U.S.C. months § 1001(1)(2) imprisonment (2006). and now Her attorney has filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging Douglas sentence, but stating that there are no meritorious issues for appeal. Douglas was informed of her right to file a pro se supplemental brief but did not do so. In Douglas the Anders sentence unreasonable. district court We affirm. is brief, counsel procedurally questions and whether substantively Appellate courts review a sentence imposed by a for discretion standard. reasonableness, applying an abuse of Gall v. United States, 128 S. Ct. 586, 597 (2007); United States v. Pauley, 511 F.3d 468, 473 (4th Cir. 2007). The court must: first ensure that the district court committed no significant procedural error, such as failing to calculate (or improperly calculating) the Guidelines range, treating the Guidelines as mandatory, failing to consider the [18 U.S.C.] § 3553(a) [(2006)] factors, . . . or failing to adequately explain the chosen sentence--including an explanation for any deviation from the Guidelines range. Gall, 128 S. Ct. at 597. the sentencing, the If there are no procedural errors in appellate court then substantive reasonableness of the sentence. 2 Id. considers the Substantive reasonableness review entails taking into account the totality of the circumstances, including the extent of any variance from the Guidelines range. 128 S. Ct. at 597). range, an appellate reasonable. Pauley, 511 F.3d at 473 (quoting Gall, If a sentence is within the Guidelines court may presume reviewed the record that the sentence is Id. We have and conclude that district court committed no error in sentencing Douglas. the The court properly calculated the Guidelines range, considered the § 3553(a) factors, and adequately explained the chosen sentence. Furthermore, we conclude that Douglas within-Guidelines sentence also is substantively reasonable. We have examined the entire record in accordance with the requirements of Anders and have found no meritorious issues for appeal. sentence. writing, We therefore affirm Douglas conviction and This court requires that counsel inform Douglas, in of the right to petition United States for further review. the Supreme Court of the If Douglas requests that a petition be filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then counsel may move in this court for leave to withdraw from representation. Counsel s motion must state that a copy thereof was served on Douglas. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately 3 presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED 4
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