United States v. Jyshawn Robertson

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 22-2868
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United States of America
Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Jyshawn Robertson
Defendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Northern District of Iowa - Eastern
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Submitted: May 8, 2023
Filed: August 4, 2023
[Unpublished]
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Before SHEPHERD, STRAS, and KOBES, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Jyshawn Robertson received a 120-month prison sentence after he pleaded
guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2).
Although he claims the sentence is too long, we affirm.
The district court 1 explained why Robertson received the statutory-maximum
sentence: he fired several times at a busy nightclub. See U.S.S.G. § 5K2.6 (allowing
the court to depart upward when “a weapon or dangerous instrumentality was used”
to commit the offense); United States v. Porter, 409 F.3d 910, 914 (8th Cir. 2005)
(shooting a gun into an occupied building “clearly fits within Section 5K2.6’s plain
language”). He denies firing the shots, but there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.
The getaway driver identified him as the gunman, the bar owner said he had been
making threats, and his DNA was recovered from the gun. In the court’s words, the
evidence here was “overwhelming,” more than enough to get past clear-error review.
See United States v. Fields, 512 F.3d 1009, 1011 (8th Cir. 2008).
Robertson’s sentence is also substantively reasonable. The district court
sufficiently considered the statutory sentencing factors, see 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and
did not rely on an improper factor or commit a clear error of judgment. See United
States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461–62 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc). Indeed,
Robertson’s actions easily could have killed someone, so it is no surprise that he
received a lengthy sentence. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A) (noting that a sentence
should “reflect the seriousness of the offense”).
We accordingly affirm the judgment of the district court.
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1
The Honorable C.J. Williams, United States District Judge for the Northern
District of Iowa.
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