United States v. Mitchell, No. 15-1761 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his 151-month sentence for two counts of bank robbery. With no evidence presented to support the district court’s finding that defendant made a threat of death during the December 10 bank robbery, the court concluded that the application of the two-level threat of death enhancement was erroneous. However, defendant's sentence was not imposed as a result of the misapplication and therefore the error was harmless. In this case, the district court offered a thorough explanation for imposing the sentence that it did and in doing so, the district court never once mentioned the December 10 demand note, a gun, or a threat of death. The court also concluded that the sentence was reasonable where the district court thoroughly explained its reasoning in imposing an above-Guidelines sentence, and stated that the 151-month sentence was necessary to serve the purposes of 18 U.S.C. 3553(a). Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Per Curiam - Before Smith, Benton and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. Without any supporting evidence from the government, the district court erred in imposing an enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 2B3.1; however, the record made clear that the district court did not rely on its erroneous finding that defendant had made a threat of death in determining an appropriate sentence and offered a thorough explanation of the basis for the sentence imposed; as a result, the sentence, while significantly above the guidelines range, was not an abuse of the court's discretion.
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