USA v. Desmond Burnett, No. 11-60272 (5th Cir. 2012)

Annotate this Case

This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on April 17, 2012.

Download PDF

Case: 11-60272 Document: 00511823930 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/17/2012 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS United States Court of Appeals FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Fifth Circuit FILED No. 11-60272 Conference Calendar April 17, 2012 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. DESMOND BURNETT, Defendant-Appellant Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi USDC No. 2:10-CR-22-1 Before JONES, Chief Judge, and JOLLY and SMITH, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Desmond Burnett pleaded guilty to distributing methamphetamine and possessing with intent to distribute in excess of 5 grams of cocaine base. In his sole issue on appeal, he contends that the district court erred by refusing to apply the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (FSA) to his sentence. His argument is foreclosed by our decision in United States v. Tickles, 661 F.3d 212, 215 (5th Cir. 2011), petitions for cert. filed (Dec. 15, 2011) (No. 11-8023) and (Dec. 27, 2011) (No. 11-8268), which held that the FSA does not apply retroactively to * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 11-60272 Document: 00511823930 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/17/2012 No. 11-60272 defendants whose sentencing occurred after the FSA s effective date but whose offenses occurred before the effective date. Although the Supreme Court has recently granted certiorari in two Seventh Circuit cases that held that the FSA does not apply retroactively, our precedent is nevertheless binding. See United States v. Lopez-Velasquez, 526 F.3d 804, 808 n.1 (5th Cir. 2008). Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED. 2

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.