United States v. Eric Kennard Crump , 564 F. App'x 440 ( 2014 )


Menu:
  •            Case: 13-14550   Date Filed: 04/25/2014   Page: 1 of 19
    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
    IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
    ________________________
    No. 13-14550
    Non-Argument Calendar
    ________________________
    D.C. Docket No. 6:12-cr-00018-BAE-GRS-5
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    versus
    ERIC KENNARD CRUMP,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    ________________________
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Southern District of Georgia
    ________________________
    (April 25, 2014)
    Before HULL, PRYOR and FAY, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM:
    Case: 13-14550     Date Filed: 04/25/2014   Page: 2 of 19
    After pleading guilty, Eric Crump appeals his total 77-month sentence for
    two counts of using a communication facility, a telephone, to facilitate a drug
    transaction, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). On appeal, Crump argues that his
    77-month sentence, which is twenty months above the advisory guidelines range of
    46 to 57 months, is both procedurally and substantively unreasonable. After
    review, we affirm.
    I. BACKGROUND FACTS
    A.    Offense Conduct
    Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) Task Force agents began
    investigating an extensive drug-trafficking organization operating throughout
    Southeast Georgia and headed by Tellas Kennedy. Agents obtained authorized
    wiretaps of telephones used by organization members, including Kennedy.
    Through the wiretaps, surveillance, and controlled buys, agents identified over
    thirty people involved in the drug conspiracy, including Defendant Crump.
    Defendant Crump was identified based on Crump’s three intercepted phone
    calls with Kennedy in August and September 2011. At the time, Crump was
    incarcerated at the Coffee Correctional Facility for a state parole revocation.
    In 1991, Defendant Crump was convicted for a third time of the Georgia
    offense of sale of cocaine and was sentenced to life with possibility of parole. In
    April 2003, Crump was paroled, but, in December 2008, his parole was revoked
    2
    Case: 13-14550     Date Filed: 04/25/2014   Page: 3 of 19
    after he was charged with new felony drug offenses in state court. Although in
    2010 Crump was acquitted of the new state drug charges, the Georgia State Parole
    Board maintained the parole revocation based on a preponderance of the evidence.
    While incarcerated on the state parole revocation, Defendant Crump met Manuel
    Longoria, who reportedly had connections to a Mexican drug cartel. Defendant
    Crump called Kennedy to discuss Longoria supplying Kennedy with controlled
    substances.
    In the first intercepted call on August 18, 2011, Kennedy told Defendant
    Crump that he was on his way to meet Longoria. Defendant Crump told Kennedy
    that Longoria was “as good as gold” and to get Longoria a phone. Defendant
    Crump and Kennedy also talked about when they used to sell drugs. Kennedy then
    stated that he had arrived to meet Longoria and would call Crump back later.
    In the second intercepted call on August 29, 2011, Kennedy called
    Defendant Crump and said he was trying to meet with Longoria at a hotel. During
    the call, Kennedy and Defendant Crump discussed how, with Longoria involved,
    they would distribute greater quantities of drugs. In the third intercepted call on
    September 2, 2011, Kennedy again called Defendant Crump. Using code words,
    Kennedy and Crump discussed the cost of different drug quantities.
    In a subsequent interview with investigators, Longoria described the meeting
    with Kennedy at a hotel where Longoria worked. Kennedy told Longoria that
    3
    Case: 13-14550     Date Filed: 04/25/2014   Page: 4 of 19
    Defendant Crump had sent him. Kennedy wanted Longoria’s help obtaining .25-
    to .5-kilogram quantities of cocaine powder. Longoria told Kennedy he would
    make some calls and get back to him. No drugs were ever distributed as a result of
    Defendant Crump’s arranging the connection between Kennedy and Longoria.
    However, during an interview with another member of the same drug
    conspiracy, Jeffery Jackson, investigators learned that Defendant Crump had sold
    drugs to Jackson in either 2007 or 2008, while Crump was out on state parole.
    A federal grand jury indicted Defendant Crump and 29 other codefendants,
    including Kennedy, Longoria, and Jackson, in a multi-count indictment for their
    involvement in the drug trafficking organization. Defendant Crump was charged
    with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances between
    March 2006 and November 2012, Count 1, and with three counts of using a
    communication facility to facilitate the drug conspiracy, namely the three
    intercepted phone calls with Kennedy on August 18 and 29 and September 2, 2011,
    Counts 81, 113 and 120, respectively.
    B.    Guilty Plea
    Pursuant to a written plea agreement, Defendant Crump agreed to plead
    guilty to Counts 81 and 113, and the government agreed to dismiss Counts 1 and
    120. The government agreed not to object to the probation officer’s
    recommendation that Defendant Crump receive a two-level reduction for
    4
    Case: 13-14550     Date Filed: 04/25/2014   Page: 5 of 19
    acceptance of responsibility and to move for an additional one-level reduction, if
    applicable.
    At the plea hearing, the district court initially expressed reluctance to accept
    Defendant Crump’s guilty plea because Crump’s sentences on Counts 81 and 113
    would be inadequate to deter Crump given his history of drug dealing and his
    involvement in the drug conspiracy. After defense counsel explained the facts of
    Crump’s involvement, the district court stated that “this must be one of those
    honest cases where [21 U.S.C. § 843(b)] is the crime,” and that “with that proffer,
    [the court] might proceed.”
    The government called DEA Task Force Agent Kevin Waters to explain the
    factual basis for the plea. Agent Waters testified to the interception of Defendant
    Crump’s prison phone calls with Kennedy in which Defendant Crump discussed
    possible drug transactions between Longoria and Kennedy. After Agent Waters’
    testimony, Defendant Crump agreed that he was in jail when he made the calls to
    set up the drug transactions. Based upon those facts, the district court accepted
    Defendant Crump’s guilty plea.
    At the conclusion of the hearing, the district court stated that while it had
    accepted the guilty plea, it was “not necessarily accepting the plea agreement.”
    However, the district court subsequently entered an order finding Defendant
    Crump guilty and ratifying and confirming the plea agreement.
    5
    Case: 13-14550       Date Filed: 04/25/2014       Page: 6 of 19
    C.     Presentence Investigation Report
    The probation officer, Paul Skarupa, prepared a presentence investigation
    report (“PSI”) recounting the facts above. The initial PSI used the drug quantity
    codefendant Jackson told Agent Waters he obtained from Defendant Crump.
    Specifically, Jackson said he had met Defendant Crump on the side of a highway
    and purchased five cookies of crack cocaine. Using the drug amount reported to
    Agent Waters, the initial PSI calculated a base offense level of 28.
    After Defendant Crump filed a written objection to the drug quantity,
    Officer Skarupa interviewed codefendant Jackson about the amount of drugs he
    obtained from Defendant Crump. Officer Skarupa revised the PSI using this new
    drug amount.1 According to paragraph 9 of the revised PSI, during Officer
    Skarupa’s interview, codefendant Jackson said that Defendant Crump supplied one
    of Jackson’s friends with crack cocaine, but Jackson could not provide drug
    quantities for these transactions because he was not present when they occurred.
    In addition, Jackson said that, on one occasion in 2008, he bought 2 to 3 ounces of
    powder cocaine from Defendant Crump. Jackson arranged the transaction over the
    telephone and then drove to Defendant Crump’s residence to purchase the drugs.
    1
    Neither the initial PSI nor Defendant Crump’s written objections to it are in the record.
    The addendum to the revised PSI states that Defendant Crump filed three objections to the initial
    PSI but withdrew them after a “resolution conference.”
    6
    Case: 13-14550    Date Filed: 04/25/2014    Page: 7 of 19
    In paragraph 10, the revised PSI attributed to Crump 2 ounces (or 56.7
    grams) of powder cocaine, explaining that “[t]his figure represents a minimum
    quantity of cocaine hydrochloride Crump sold Jackson.” The revised PSI further
    noted that the 56.7-gram quantity was “conservative” because it did not include the
    drug amounts referred to in the intercepted phone conversations between
    Defendant Crump and codefendant Kennedy or the quantities of crack cocaine
    codefendant Jackson said Defendant Crump had sold to Jackson’s friend.
    Using 56.7 grams of powder cocaine, the revised PSI calculated a base
    offense level of 16, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c)(12). Based on his criminal
    history, Crump qualified as a career offender. However, because Crump’s offense
    level of 12 under the career offender provision, § 4B1.1(b)(7), was less than his
    offense level of 16 under § 2D1.1(c)(12), his offense level remained 16.
    The PSI recommended that Defendant Crump not receive a reduction for
    acceptance of responsibility. The PSI indicated that, in an interview with the
    probation officer, Defendant Crump admitted his conduct regarding the intercepted
    calls with Kennedy, but denied any drug transaction with Jackson. The PSI further
    stated that Jackson had established himself as a credible witness during the trials of
    two codefendants.
    With a total offense level of 16 and a criminal history category of VI (as a
    career offender), the PSI recommended an advisory guidelines range of 46 to 57
    7
    Case: 13-14550     Date Filed: 04/25/2014    Page: 8 of 19
    months’ imprisonment. The PSI noted that the statutory maximum for each count
    was four years. See 21 U.S.C. § 843(b), (d)(1).
    D.    Sentencing Hearing
    At the sentencing hearing, the district court confirmed that there were no
    objections to the PSI’s fact findings, except Defendant Crump’s objection to the
    factual statements in paragraphs 9 and 10 as to drug quantity. The district court
    then adopted the undisputed fact findings.
    Defendant Crump argued that, given that Jackson had changed his story and
    was unreliable, the government did not prove the drug amount by a preponderance
    of the evidence and it was improper to withdraw the reduction for acceptance of
    responsibility based on Crump’s claim that he had not sold any drugs to Jackson.
    The government called Jackson to support the PSI’s drug quantity finding
    and the related denial of acceptance of responsibility. Jackson testified, inter alia,
    that: (1) twice in 2007 Defendant Crump sold at least 3.5 grams of crack cocaine to
    Jackson’s friend, but Jackson did not personally see the exchange of drugs, which
    occurred in a car; (2) on a couple of occasions in 2008, Jackson bought five ounces
    of crack cocaine from Defendant Crump on the side of the road; and (3) later in
    2008, Jackson once went to Defendant Crump’s house and bought two ounces of
    “half-and-half,” or half crack and half powder cocaine. Jackson explained that he
    had told Agent Waters only about the roadside purchase of crack because that was
    8
    Case: 13-14550       Date Filed: 04/25/2014      Page: 9 of 19
    all Agent Waters asked him about. Jackson denied that his testimony was
    inconsistent with what he had told Officer Skarupa during the interview, insisting
    that he had told Officer Skarupa that he had purchased 2 ounces of “half-and-half”
    at Defendant Crump’s home.
    Jackson also stated that, while incarcerated together, Defendant Crump
    asked Jackson why he had given authorities information about Crump. When they
    were no longer incarcerated together, Defendant Crump sent Jackson a letter
    asking about the drugs quantity alleged in Jackson’s PSI and later asked Jackson
    whether he had received the letter. Jackson said that he heard “through someone
    else” that other codefendants wanted to know what he was going to tell the
    government and whether he would write a letter for Kennedy.
    After Jackson’s testimony, the government argued that Defendant Crump
    should be held accountable for the additional drug amounts Jackson testified about,
    which would result in a base offense level of 28, rather than 16. The district court
    asked Officer Skarupa’s supervisor, Marty Bragg, to explain the drug quantity
    calculation.2 Officer Bragg stated that the PSI had been revised from a base
    offense level of 28 to 16 after Jackson was interviewed. Officer Bragg said that
    the revised PSI drug quantity was “extremely conservative” and did not include the
    2
    Officer Skarupa was not at the sentencing hearing. As Officer Skarupa’s supervisor,
    Officer Bragg reviewed and signed the PSI and stood in for Officer Skarupa at the sentencing
    hearing.
    9
    Case: 13-14550     Date Filed: 04/25/2014   Page: 10 of 19
    .25- and .5-kilogram amounts of powder cocaine Crump discussed in the calls with
    Kennedy.
    After a short recess, the government called another probation officer, Arron
    Miller, who was present when Officer Skarupa interviewed Jackson. Officer
    Miller testified that during the interview, Jackson said that he had bought a
    combination of crack and powder cocaine, or half-and-half, from Defendant
    Crump. Jackson also had discussed other cocaine purchases that occurred years
    earlier, but Officer Miller could not remember the amounts. Officer Miller pointed
    out that this was the second time Jackson had changed the drug quantity in favor of
    one of his codefendants after his interview with Agent Waters.
    The district court found that there had “been efforts made by different
    defendants to intimidate the witness, Jackson, and he has given inconsistent, if not
    contradictory statements.” The court agreed with Officer Miller’s observation that
    “the more the attempts were made by others, that [Jackson’s] statements became
    more favorable, and one can also assume that’s because of a feeling of
    intimidation.”
    The district court adopted the factual statements in paragraph 9 and 10 of the
    revised PSI, including the drug quantity. The district court also stated that
    “[q]uestions of guideline application have arisen with respect to” whether
    Defendant Crump was entitled to an acceptance of responsibility reduction. The
    10
    Case: 13-14550       Date Filed: 04/25/2014      Page: 11 of 19
    court concluded that it had seen nothing to convince it that the probation officers
    had not “done as good a job as they could have with the transient nature of people
    trying to gain advantages.” The district court found a total offense level of 16, a
    criminal history category of VI, and an advisory guidelines range of 46 to 57
    months.
    Defendant Crump personally apologized, admitting to the court that he was
    guilty of trying to arrange the drug transactions from prison. Crump maintained,
    however, that Jackson was lying about buying drugs from him because Crump was
    working a legitimate job as a bread truck driver at the time Jackson claimed the
    drug transaction took place. Defense counsel argued that Jackson’s testimony was
    “contradictory and questionable” and asked the district court to reconsider its drug
    quantity ruling and restore the acceptance of responsibility reduction or,
    alternatively, to take into account that Defendant Crump had accepted
    responsibility for the charged conduct in selecting the sentence.3
    The government argued that Jackson was credible despite his
    inconsistencies. The government noted that Jackson’s story changed after Crump’s
    unlawful contact and that informant intimidation had occurred in other
    3
    At this point, the district court asked defense counsel whether Crump was asking to
    withdraw his guilty plea because it was coerced. Defense counsel stated that Crump was not
    claiming that his guilty plea was coerced and did not want to withdraw his plea. Defense counsel
    explained that Crump was arguing only that it was unfair to use the 56.7 grams of powder
    cocaine to calculate the base offense level given that Jackson’s statements were inconsistent and
    Crump denied that the transaction with Jackson ever took place.
    11
    Case: 13-14550     Date Filed: 04/25/2014    Page: 12 of 19
    codefendant’s cases. The government argued that the district court’s drug quantity
    finding was “exceptionally generous” to Defendant Crump. The government
    opposed an acceptance of responsibility reduction because Defendant Crump
    continued to deny selling drugs to Jackson and also had unlawful contact with
    witnesses and codefendants.
    The district court stated that it had considered the entire record and the 18
    U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors and sentenced Crump to 48 months for Count 81 and 29
    months for Count 113, to be served consecutively, for a total of 77 months in
    prison. The total 77-month sentence was also to be served consecutively to
    Crump’s state sentence imposed upon his parole revocation for his 1991 sale of
    cocaine conviction.
    In varying upward from the advisory guidelines range, the district court
    noted the nature and circumstances of Crump’s offenses and Crump’s history and
    characteristics. In explaining the chosen sentence, the district court stressed in
    particular that: (1) Crump committed the offenses while in jail; (2) while “in prison
    for this offense, . . . he sought to impose some coercion on the witness that wants
    to cooperate”; (3) Crump, who was 43 years old, already had three prior felony
    convictions for the sale of cocaine, and had spent much of the last twenty years
    incarcerated; (4) neither Crump’s state life sentence nor his well-paying job as a
    bread truck driver once he was paroled deterred him from committing further
    12
    Case: 13-14550     Date Filed: 04/25/2014    Page: 13 of 19
    crimes; (5) Crump’s qualification as a career offender had no impact on his offense
    level calculation because he pled guilty to only the communication facility counts
    and not the larger drug conspiracy; (6) Crump “benefitted immensely” from his
    plea deal and “the amount of cocaine has been ultraconservative”; and (7) a
    preponderance of the evidence established that Crump “continues to minimize and
    deny criminal conduct.”
    II. DISCUSSION
    “We review the reasonableness of a sentence for abuse of discretion using a
    two-step process.” United States v. Turner, 
    626 F.3d 566
    , 573 (11th Cir. 2010).
    We look first at whether the district court committed any significant procedural
    error, such as miscalculating the advisory guidelines range, treating the guidelines
    as mandatory, failing to consider the § 3553(a) factors, selecting a sentence based
    on clearly erroneous facts, or failing to explain adequately the chose sentence.
    United States v. Pugh, 
    515 F.3d 1179
    , 1190 (11th Cir. 2008). Then, we examine
    whether the sentence is substantively unreasonable under the totality of the
    circumstances and in light of the § 3553(a) factors. 
    Id. A. Procedural
    Reasonableness
    Defendant Crump raises several procedural errors, none of which have
    merit. First, although he complains about Jackson’s reliability, Crump has given
    us no reason to disturb the district court’s implicit credibility finding as to
    13
    Case: 13-14550        Date Filed: 04/25/2014       Page: 14 of 19
    Jackson’s drug quantity testimony. See United States v. Pham, 
    463 F.3d 1239
    ,
    1244 (11th Cir. 2006) (explaining that we give substantial deference to a
    sentencing court’s credibility findings and will not question them absent some
    evidence to the contrary). The district court found that codefendant Jackson’s
    testimony that he had bought drugs from Defendant Crump was credible despite
    his inconsistency as to the amount of drugs involved. Then, following the
    probation officer’s recommendation, the district court used the most conservative
    drug quantity supported by Jackson’s testimony to calculate Crump’s advisory
    guidelines range.4
    Second, there is no merit to Defendant Crump’s claim that the district court
    varied upward “to avoid addressing the issue of the sentencing points altogether.”
    A district court cannot avoid a guidelines calculation issue merely by varying
    upward because the district court must first correctly calculate the guidelines range
    before deciding on the appropriate sentence. United States v. Crawford, 
    407 F.3d 1174
    , 1178-79 (11th Cir. 2005); see also Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(i)(3)(B) (requiring the
    sentencing court to rule on disputed portions of the PSI that will affect the
    sentence). Here, the district court directly addressed and overruled Defendant
    4
    On appeal, Crump challenges only the district court’s credibility finding and not the
    district court’s calculation of the guidelines range of 46 to 57 months. Accordingly, any
    guidelines calculation issues are abandoned. See United States v. Levy, 
    379 F.3d 1241
    , 1242
    (11th Cir. 2004) (explaining that we do not consider issues not raised in the appeal brief).
    14
    Case: 13-14550       Date Filed: 04/25/2014       Page: 15 of 19
    Crump’s objection to the drug quantity in paragraphs 9 and 10 of the revised PSI
    and adopted the revised PSI’s fact findings and guidelines calculations.
    Finally, we reject Defendant Crump’s argument that the district court
    demonstrated any bias against him or had a “preconceived notion of sentencing.”5
    Crump does not point to any remarks by the district court at the sentencing hearing
    suggesting that it had pre-judged the evidence or was impartial. The district court
    conducted a full evidentiary hearing on the issue of drug quantity before making a
    drug quantity finding and heard argument from the parties and allocution from
    Crump before choosing a sentence. Crump points to the district court’s initial
    reluctance to accept Crump’s guilty plea and the court’s statement that it accepted
    the guilty plea but not necessarily the plea agreement. However, the district court
    ultimately accepted both Crump’s guilty plea and his plea agreement. The court’s
    statements at the plea hearing do not evince any bias.
    Nor is there any evidence whatsoever in the record to support Defendant
    Crump’s claim that the district court credited Jackson’s testimony to preserve the
    government’s cases against other codefendants in the conspiracy. Indeed, the
    district court acknowledged that Jackson’s hearing testimony was inconsistent with
    his prior statements as to drug quantity and conveniently cut in Crump’s favor by
    5
    Because Defendant Crump did not raise a claim of impartiality during sentencing or
    request that the district judge recuse himself, this claim is reviewed for plain error. See United
    States v. Rodriguez, 
    627 F.3d 1372
    , 1379-80 (11th Cir. 2010). For the reasons stated, Crump has
    not shown error, much less plain error.
    15
    Case: 13-14550        Date Filed: 04/25/2014        Page: 16 of 19
    lowering the drug quantity. Nonetheless, the district court used the extremely
    conservative drug quantity to calculate Crump’s offense level. 6
    The mere fact that the district court varied upward after calculating the
    advisory guidelines range does not show bias. See United States v. Berger, 
    375 F.3d 1223
    , 1227-28 (11th Cir. 2004) (explaining that an adverse ruling alone does
    not provide a basis for concluding that the court’s impartiality is in doubt). This is
    especially true here, where the district court gave a reasoned basis for its decision
    to vary upward. Under the circumstances, we see no indication of bias against
    Crump or that Crump was deprived of a fair sentencing hearing.
    B.     Substantive Reasonableness
    Defendant Crump has not shown that his total 77-month sentence is
    substantively unreasonable.
    In choosing a sentence, the district court must consider the § 3553(a) factors
    but is not required to address each factor separately on the record. United States v.
    Scott, 
    426 F.3d 1324
    , 1329 (11th Cir. 2005). 7 “The district court also considers the
    6
    Had the district court fully discredited Jackson, as Defendant Crump claims the district
    court should have, the remaining undisputed drug quantity would have been the .25- to .5-
    kilogram amounts Crump discussed with Kennedy during his prison calls. Even conservatively
    estimated, this drug quantity would have resulted in a base offense level of 20. See U.S.S.G.
    § 2D1.1(c)(10) (providing for a base offense level of 20 for offenses involving at least 200 grams
    but less than 300 grams of powder cocaine). Assuming arguendo that Crump would have
    received the three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility, his total offense level of 16
    would have remained the same.
    7
    The § 3553(a) factors include: (1) the nature and circumstances of the offense and the
    history and characteristics of the defendant; (2) the need to reflect the seriousness of the offense,
    16
    Case: 13-14550       Date Filed: 04/25/2014       Page: 17 of 19
    § 3553(a) factors as to each offense when determining whether imprisonment
    terms should be imposed concurrently or consecutively.” 
    Turner, 626 F.3d at 573
    ;
    see also 18 U.S.C. § 3584(b). The weight to be accorded each factor is committed
    to the sound discretion of the district court. United States v. Clay, 
    483 F.3d 739
    ,
    743 (11th Cir. 2007). The party challenging the sentence has the burden to show it
    is unreasonable. United States v. Thomas, 
    446 F.3d 1348
    , 1351 (11th Cir. 2006).
    If a district court decides to impose an upward variance, “it must ‘consider
    the extent of the deviation and ensure that the justification is sufficiently
    compelling to support the degree of the variance.’” United States v. Williams, 
    526 F.3d 1312
    , 1322 (11th Cir. 2008) (quoting Gall v. United States, 
    552 U.S. 38
    , 50,
    
    128 S. Ct. 586
    , 597 (2007)). In reviewing the reasonableness of a sentence outside
    the advisory guidelines range, we take into account the district court’s justification
    and the extent of the variance, but we do not require extraordinary circumstances
    to justify such a sentence or presume that such a sentence is unreasonable. 
    Gall, 552 U.S. at 47
    , 128 S. Ct. at 594-95; United States v. Irey, 
    612 F.3d 1160
    , 1186-87
    (11th Cir. 2010) (en banc). We give “due deference to the district court’s decision
    that the § 3553(a) factors, on the whole, justify the extent of the variance.” Irey,
    to promote respect for the law, and to provide just punishment for the offense; (3) the need for
    deterrence; (4) the need to protect the public; (5) the need to provide the defendant with needed
    educational or vocational training or medical care; (6) the kinds of sentences available; (7) the
    Sentencing Guidelines range; (8) pertinent policy statements of the Sentencing Commission; (9)
    the need to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities; and (10) the need to provide restitution to
    victims. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
    17
    Case: 13-14550     Date Filed: 04/25/2014    Page: 18 of 
    19 612 F.3d at 1187
    (quoting 
    Gall, 552 U.S. at 51
    , 128 S. Ct. at 597). We will vacate
    such a sentence “only if we are left with the definite and firm conviction that the
    district court committed a clear error of judgment in weighing the § 3553(a) factors
    by arriving at a sentence that lies outside the range of reasonable sentences dictated
    by the facts of the case.” United States v. Shaw, 
    560 F.3d 1230
    , 1238 (11th Cir.
    2009) (quotation marks omitted).
    Here, the district court’s reasons for the twenty-month upward variance were
    sufficiently compelling to justify the extent of the variance. As the district court
    explained, Crump already had three prior felony convictions for sale of cocaine.
    Crump had received a state life sentence and served over a decade in prison for his
    last sale of cocaine conviction. Yet, Crump was not deterred from committing
    more drug crimes by either his prior incarceration or his well-paying job once he
    was paroled. In fact, Crump committed the instant offense from jail while serving
    time for his state parole revocation. After Crump pled guilty, he sought to
    influence Jackson’s testimony as to the drug quantity that should be attributed to
    Crump and continued to deny selling drugs to Jackson. Finally, the advisory
    guidelines range was based on an “ultraconservative” estimate of the amount of
    drugs attributable to Crump.
    Although the total sentence was twenty months above the advisory
    guidelines range of 46 to 57 months, it was well below the total statutory
    18
    Case: 13-14550     Date Filed: 04/25/2014   Page: 19 of 19
    maximum Crump faced of eight years (or 96 months) for both counts. Under the
    totality of the circumstances, we cannot say the district court’s decision to impose
    a 77-month total sentence is substantively unreasonable.
    AFFIRMED.
    19