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    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Robert Washington's sentence of 102 months for possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. The district court had determined Washington's offense level based in part on a prior conviction, which he challenged under Blakely v. Washington. However, the appeals court found any error was harmless because the district court had imposed an identical alternative sentence if the guidelines were invalidated, consistent with United States v. Hammoud. As the Supreme Court applied Blakely to the federal guidelines in United States v. Booker, the appeals court affirmed the sentence.

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    Filed: 2005-04-01 Precedential Status: Non-Precedential Docket: 04-4721

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    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Robert Washington's sentence of 102 months for possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. The district court had determined Washington's offense level based in part on a prior conviction, which he challenged under Blakely v. Washington. However, the appeals court found any error was harmless because the district court had imposed an identical alternative sentence if the guidelines were invalidated, consistent with United States v. Hammoud. As the Supreme Court applied Blakely to the federal guidelines in United States v. Booker, the appeals court affirmed the sentence.

    Copyright:

    Public Domain
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    3 views3 pages

    United States v. Washington, 4th Cir. (2005)

    Uploaded by

    Scribd Government Docs
    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed Robert Washington's sentence of 102 months for possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. The district court had determined Washington's offense level based in part on a prior conviction, which he challenged under Blakely v. Washington. However, the appeals court found any error was harmless because the district court had imposed an identical alternative sentence if the guidelines were invalidated, consistent with United States v. Hammoud. As the Supreme Court applied Blakely to the federal guidelines in United States v. Booker, the appeals court affirmed the sentence.

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    UNPUBLISHED

    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS


    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

    No. 04-4721

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,


    Plaintiff - Appellee,
    versus
    ROBERT CHARLES WASHINGTON, JR.,
    Defendant - Appellant.

    Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
    South Carolina, at Charleston. David C. Norton, District Judge.
    (CR-03-329)

    Submitted:

    March 18, 2005

    Decided:

    April 1, 2005

    Before WILKINSON, SHEDD, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.

    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

    Jill E. M. HaLevi, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Charleston,


    South Carolina, for Appellee.
    J. Strom Thurmond, Jr., United
    States Attorney, Alston C. Badger, Assistant United States
    Attorney, Charleston, South Carolina, for Appellee.

    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.


    See Local Rule 36(c).

    PER CURIAM:
    Robert Charles Washington, Jr. pled guilty to possession
    of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a felony, 18
    U.S.C. 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2) (2000), and possession of a firearm
    during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense, 18 U.S.C.
    924(c)(1)(A)(i) (2000).
    to

    102

    months

    The district court sentenced Washington

    imprisonment,

    consisting

    of

    forty-two-month

    sentence on the 922(g) offense, and a consecutive sixty-month


    term on the 924(c) offense.

    The district court also specified an

    identical alternative sentence of 102 months pursuant to this


    courts recommendation in United States v. Hammoud, 378 F.3d 426
    (4th Cir. 2004) (order), opinion issued by 381 F.3d 316, 353-54
    (4th Cir. 2004) (en banc), cert. granted and judgment vacated, 125
    S. Ct. 1051 (2005).
    Washington appealed, challenging the constitutionality of
    the federal sentencing scheme in light of the Supreme Courts
    decision

    in

    Blakely

    v.

    Washington,

    124

    S.

    Ct.

    2531

    (2004).

    Washington specifically challenges the determination of his offense


    level under the guidelines by reference to a prior conviction as a
    conviction for a controlled substance offense.

    The case was held

    in abeyance pending the decision in United States v. Booker, 125 S.


    Ct. 738 (2005).

    That opinion has now issued and applied the

    Courts reasoning in Blakely to the federal sentencing guidelines.

    - 2 -

    We conclude that, because the alternative sentence the


    district court pronounced in case the federal sentencing guidelines
    were invalidated was identical to the mandatory sentence imposed
    under the federal sentencing guidelines as they existed at that
    time, any error resulting from the sentence imposed by the district
    court was harmless.

    See Booker, 125 S. Ct. at 769.

    we affirm Washingtons sentence.

    Accordingly,

    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

    - 3 -

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