United States v. Smith, No. 19-3528 (8th Cir. 2020)
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Defendant was sentenced to 180 months imprisonment for possession of controlled substances with the intent to distribute, and a consecutive term of 30 months imprisonment for violating the terms of a previously imposed term of supervised release.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence, holding that the district court did not procedurally err by finding that a consecutive term was mandatory under the Sentencing Guidelines. Rather, the record reflects that the district court treated the Guidelines as merely advisory and exercised its discretion in ordering consecutive sentences. In this case, the district court calculated the Guidelines range for defendant's new offense as 168 to 210 months imprisonment and noted the parties' plea agreement (and the agreed-to range of 144 to 216-months imprisonment).
Court Description: [Shepherd, Author, with Loken and Erickson, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. Where defendant was convicted of a new offense and violation of the provisions of his supervised release, the district court did not err in making the two sentences consecutive; the district court did not treat the Section 7B1.3(f) of the Guidelines as mandatory regarding consecutive sentences and understood the guidelines were advisory; the decision to make the sentences consecutive was a proper exercise of the district court's discretion.
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