United States v. Nelson, No. 19-3686 (8th Cir. 2020)
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Nelson and Sykes pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute heroin, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), 846. Both were serving state sentences at the time of their convictions. The district court sentenced Nelson to 77 months’ imprisonment and Sykes to 60 months’ imprisonment, with each federal sentence to run partially concurrent with the undischarged term of the respective defendant’s state sentences. The government had agreed to recommend sentences fully concurrent to the undischarged terms of state imprisonment. Both federal sentences were within the applicable advisory guideline range.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The district court addressed at length the sentencing factors under 18 U.S.C. 3553(a), and the reasons given were sufficient to explain the court’s exercise of discretion on the question of concurrent sentencing. Neither state sentence was attributable solely to an offense that was relevant conduct to the federal drug conspiracy.
Court Description: [Colloton, Author, with Gruender and Grasz, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. The district court did not misapply Guidelines Sec. 5G1.3 and was not required to reduce defendant Nelson's sentence or impose a sentence fully concurrent with his state time; the district court adequately explained its reasons for imposing a partially concurrent sentence in this complex situation; bottom-of-the-guidelines-range sentence was not substantively unreasonable; the district court did not abuse its discretion in making defendant Sykes's federal sentence partially concurrent to his undischarged term of state custody.
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