US v. Lewis, No. 22-4291 (4th Cir. 2024)
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The case involves Richard Lewis, a man convicted in 2004 for conspiracy to traffic in illegal drugs and unlawful firearm possession. Lewis began serving two concurrent 5-year terms of supervised release in 2010 after serving roughly seven years in prison. During the supervised release, Lewis was arrested and convicted under state law for three counts of manufacturing or distributing illegal drugs and sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment. Based on these violations, the district court revoked Lewis’s supervised release and sentenced him to 20 months’ imprisonment, to be served consecutively to his state sentence. Lewis appealed, arguing that the district court improperly considered the need for punishment and the seriousness of the violation, which he contended are factors prohibited under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e).
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit disagreed with Lewis's arguments. It held that the district court did not base Lewis's revocation sentence predominantly on the retributive factor, and the sentence was not plainly unreasonable. It also rejected Lewis's argument that Chapter 7 of the Sentencing Guidelines must be struck down as inconsistent with § 3583(e). The Court explained that Lewis's argument relied on the incorrect premise that "the offense" in § 3553(a) should be read as including the defendant’s supervised release violation. The Court affirmed the district court's revocation sentence.
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