United States v. Lonnie Porter ( 2008 )

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
OCT 20, 2008
No. 07-13689 THOMAS K. KAHN
Non-Argument Calendar CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 01-00892-CR-CMA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
LONNIE PORTER,
a.k.a. Luqman Eliman,
a.k.a. Lugman Eliman,
a.k.a. Ludman Eliman,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
_________________________
(October 20, 2008)
Before TJOFLAT, CARNES and BARKETT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
In 2004, a jury found Lonnie Porter guilty of conspiracy to possess with
intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and 50 grams or more of
cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A) (Count
1); possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base, in
violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (Count 5); and
conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) and
(a)(1)(B)(I) (Count 6). In 2007, we affirmed Porter’s convictions, but remanded
for re-sentencing in light of the Supreme Court’s intervening decision in United
States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). On
remand, the court sentenced Porter to concurrent prison terms of 120 months. He
now appeals, contending that these sentences are unreasonable because they are
disparate from those imposed on his codefendants, exceeded his criminal
responsibility, and did not adequately account for his post-sentencing rehabilitative
conduct.
After Booker, the district courts are still bound by statutory minimum
penalties. United States v. Castaing-Sosa, 530 F.3d 1358, 1362 (11th Cir. 2008)
(“Booker’s instruction to district courts to consider the factors in § 3553(a) in
fashioning a reasonable sentence cannot be read to authorize using the § 3553(a)
factors to impose a sentence below an applicable statutory mandatory minimum.”).
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The district court sentenced Porter to the statutory mandatory minimum
sentence, 120 months, for Counts 1 and 5 under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A).
Because the court could not have imposed sentences of a lesser term for those
offenses, his sentences could not be held to be unreasonable.
AFFIRMED.
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