United States v. Cofield , 259 F. App'x 575 ( 2007 )


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  •                             UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 07-4502
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff - Appellee,
    versus
    ARTIE COFIELD,
    Defendant - Appellant.
    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
    District of Virginia, at Richmond.   James R. Spencer, Chief
    District Judge. (3:06-cr-00342-JRS)
    Submitted:   December 20, 2007         Decided:     December 26, 2007
    Before MICHAEL and KING, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
    Circuit Judge.
    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    Elliott Bruce Bender, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellant.      Chuck
    Rosenberg, United States Attorney, Ann Reardon Gregory, Special
    Assistant United States Attorney, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
    PER CURIAM:
    Artie Cofield appeals his conviction and sentence on a
    violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (2000), possession of a firearm
    by a convicted felon.             The district court sentenced Cofield to
    fifty-five months’ imprisonment, and three years of supervised
    release.       Cofield     appeals,    challenging     the   district   court’s
    inclusion of certain prior conduct in the calculation of his
    sentence.      We affirm.
    Cofield challenges the enhancement of his Guidelines
    range based on a prior robbery conviction on the grounds that it
    occurred more than fifteen years prior to the instant offense, and
    because the Government failed to prove that Cofield was counseled
    at a subsequent parole violation relative to that conviction, or
    at other prior convictions on which he was assessed criminal
    history points.      We find his claims to be without merit.            Contrary
    to his contentions, the Guidelines specifically allow for inclusion
    of any prior sentence of imprisonment exceeding one year and one
    month, whenever imposed, which resulted in the defendant being
    incarcerated      during     any    part   of   such   fifteen-year     period.
    Cofield’s violation of his parole on the contested robbery charge
    and subsequent two-year sentence for that violation brings the
    charge within the ambit of United States Sentencing Guidelines
    Manual (“USSG”) § 2K2.1(4)(A) (2006). See USSG § 4A1.2. Moreover,
    the   burden    is   on     the    defendant    to   establish   that   he   was
    - 2 -
    uncounseled,    and    Cofield   presented   no   evidence   whatsoever    to
    support his self-serving and unsubstantiated contentions.                 See
    United States v. Hondo, 
    366 F.3d 363
    , 365 (4th Cir. 2004); United
    States v. Jones, 
    977 F.2d 105
    , 111-12 (4th Cir. 1992).
    Cofield further asserts error in the inclusion of one
    criminal history point for an obscene phone call conviction where
    there allegedly was no proof that he had been convicted of the
    charge, given that the presentence investigation report reflects
    that the conviction was appealed, and does not reflect the ultimate
    disposition of the appeal.       We likewise reject this claim of error
    because, inter alia, even without the contested point, Cofield’s
    criminal history score was above the thirteen points necessary to
    qualify him for a criminal history category VI.
    Finally, Cofield requests the benefit of USSG Amendment
    709 (Nov. 2007).       As Amendment 709 is not retroactive, see USSG
    § 1B1.10, it is not applicable to Cofield’s sentence.
    Accordingly, we affirm Cofield’s conviction and sentence.
    We   dispense   with   oral   argument   because    the   facts   and   legal
    contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the
    court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
    AFFIRMED
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Document Info

Docket Number: 07-4502

Citation Numbers: 259 F. App'x 575

Judges: Michael, King, Hamilton

Filed Date: 12/26/2007

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 11/5/2024