United States v. Dominique Wimbley ( 2022 )


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  • USCA11 Case: 22-11223      Date Filed: 11/09/2022   Page: 1 of 4
    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
    In the
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Eleventh Circuit
    ____________________
    No. 22-11223
    Non-Argument Calendar
    ____________________
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    versus
    DOMINIQUE WIMBLEY,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    ____________________
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Middle District of Florida
    D.C. Docket No. 3:17-cr-00109-TJC-JBT-1
    ____________________
    USCA11 Case: 22-11223         Date Filed: 11/09/2022     Page: 2 of 4
    2                       Opinion of the Court                 22-11223
    Before WILSON, LUCK, and LAGOA, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM:
    Dominique Wimbley appeals his sentence. Wimbley re-
    ceived 24 months’ imprisonment and 12 months’ supervised re-
    lease after revocation of his initial supervised release.
    Wimbley argues the district court failed to consider 
    18 U.S.C. § 3583
    (h)’s limitation on the imposition of supervised re-
    lease. If the court had considered the limitation, according to
    Wimbley, it would not have imposed the maximum statutory
    term.
    I.
    We typically review de novo the legality of a sentence im-
    posed upon revocation of supervised release. United States v. Cun-
    ningham, 
    800 F.3d 1290
    , 1291 (11th Cir. 2015). However, when a
    sentencing challenge is raised for the first time on appeal, we re-
    view for plain error. United States v. Henderson, 
    409 F.3d 1293
    ,
    1307 (11th Cir. 2005). Under plain error, we may correct an error
    if the defendant demonstrates that (1) there was an error; (2) the
    error was plain; (3) the error affects the defendant’s substantial
    rights; and (4) the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or
    public reputation of judicial proceedings. United States v. Moore,
    
    22 F.4th 1258
    , 1264–65 (11th Cir. 2022).
    An error is plain if it violates the plain language of a statute
    or rule, or where there is binding precedent directly resolving the
    USCA11 Case: 22-11223         Date Filed: 11/09/2022    Page: 3 of 4
    22-11223               Opinion of the Court                         3
    issue. United States v. Lejarde-Rada, 
    319 F.3d 1288
    , 1291 (11th Cir.
    2003). A plain error affects substantial rights if it was prejudicial,
    meaning that the error “actually did make a difference” in the de-
    fendant’s sentence. United States v. Rodriguez, 
    398 F.3d 1291
    , 1300
    (11th Cir. 2005). A defendant has not met his burden of showing
    that his substantial rights have been affected by an error where the
    effect “is uncertain or indeterminate” and we “would have to spec-
    ulate.” 
    Id. at 1301
    .
    Generally, a district court may revoke a term of supervised
    release and require the defendant to serve in prison all or part of
    the term of supervised release. 
    18 U.S.C. § 3583
    (e)(3). If the court
    finds the offender violated supervised release by possessing a fire-
    arm, however, the court must revoke the term of supervised re-
    lease and impose a term of imprisonment not to exceed the maxi-
    mum authorized under § 3583(e)(3). Id. § 3583(g)(2). Because the
    offense that resulted in the term of supervised release was a class C
    felony, the maximum imprisonment Wimbley faced upon revoca-
    tion of supervised release was two years. Id. § 3583(e)(3); see also
    
    18 U.S.C. § 3559
    (a)(3). The statutory maximum supervised release
    term for a Class C felony is three years. 
    18 U.S.C. § 3583
    (b). The
    court was authorized to impose a supervised release term to follow
    the imprisonment, with the following limitations:
    When a term of supervised release is revoked and the
    defendant is required to serve a term of imprison-
    ment, the court may include a requirement that the
    defendant be placed on a term of supervised release
    USCA11 Case: 22-11223        Date Filed: 11/09/2022     Page: 4 of 4
    4                      Opinion of the Court                 22-11223
    after imprisonment. The length of such a term of su-
    pervised release shall not exceed the term of super-
    vised release authorized by statute for the offense that
    resulted in the original term of supervised release, less
    any term of imprisonment that was imposed upon
    revocation of supervised release.
    
    Id.
     § 3583(h) (emphasis added). Under § 3583(h), the court was au-
    thorized to impose a term of supervised release not to exceed three
    years, less the two-year term of imprisonment it imposed upon su-
    pervised release. Thus, the court was authorized to impose one
    year of supervised release, which is exactly the term it imposed.
    Wimbley has not shown plain error as there is no indication
    in the record that the district court was unaware of § 3583(h) or
    that the court was inclined to impose a more lenient supervised
    release term. Moreover, Wimbley has not pointed to any instruc-
    tive, binding precedent holding that a district court’s alleged mis-
    understanding of the statutory maximum supervised release term
    under § 3583(h) is reversible error where the sentence imposed was
    within the statutory limits.
    AFFIRMED.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 22-11223

Filed Date: 11/9/2022

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 11/9/2022