United States v. Kimbrough ( 2006 )

Reversed by Supreme Court, December 10, 2007
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 05-4554
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
versus
DERRICK KIMBROUGH,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Raymond A. Jackson, District
Judge. (CR-04-185)
Submitted: November 15, 2005 Decided: May 9, 2006
Before WIDENER, WILLIAMS, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges.
Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Paul J. McNulty, United States Attorney, Michael J. Elston,
Assistant United States Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for
Appellant. Frank W. Dunham, Jr., Federal Public Defender,
Alexandria, Virginia; Riley H. Ross, III, Assistant Federal Public
Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Norfolk, Virginia;
Frances H. Pratt, Research and Writing Attorney, OFFICE OF THE
FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
The Government appeals the district court’s imposition of a
sentence outside of the United States Sentencing Guidelines range
based, in part, on the district court’s disagreement with the
disparity between sentences for crack and powder cocaine
violations. We have jurisdiction to review the sentence pursuant
to 18 U.S.C.A. § 3742 (West 2000). We review post-Booker sentences
for reasonableness. United States v. Hughes, 401 F.3d 540, 546-47
(4th Cir. 2005).
Derrick Kimbrough pleaded guilty to distributing fifty or more
grams of crack cocaine, distributing cocaine, conspiring to
distribute fifty grams or more of crack cocaine, and possessing a
firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime. The
sentencing guideline range was 168 to 210 months imprisonment for
the drug counts and 60 consecutive months for the firearm count.
Based, in part, on the district court’s disagreement with the
sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine violations, the
district court sentenced Kimbrough to 120 months on each of the
three drug violations, to be served concurrently, and sixty months
on the firearms charge, to be served consecutively. According to
our recent decision in United States v. Eura, 440 F.3d 625 (4th
Cir. 2006), a sentence that is outside the guidelines range is per
se unreasonable when it is based on a disagreement with the
sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine offenses.
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Because the district court concluded that the crack to powder
cocaine disparity warranted a sentence below the applicable
sentencing guideline range, we are constrained to vacate
Kimbrough’s sentence and to remand the case for resentencing. 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 in the decisional process.
VACATED AND REMANDED
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