United States v. Jimmy Evans, 11th Cir. (2013)
United States v. Jimmy Evans, 11th Cir. (2013)
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Case: 12-15195
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PER CURIAM:
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The district court is required to impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater
than necessary, to comply with the purposes listed in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)(2),
including the need to reflect the seriousness of the offense, promote respect for the
law, provide just punishment for the offense, deter criminal conduct, and protect
the public from the defendants future criminal conduct. See 18 U.S.C.
3553(a)(2). In imposing a particular sentence, the district court must also
consider the nature and circumstances of the offense, the history and characteristics
of the defendant, the applicable guideline range, and the need to avoid unwarranted
sentencing disparities. Id. 3553(a)(1), (3)-(4), (6).
The weight to be accorded any given 3553(a) factor is a matter committed
to the sound discretion of the district court, and we will not substitute our judgment
in weighing the relevant factors. United States v. Langston, 590 F.3d 1226, 1237
(11th Cir. 2009). Extraordinary justification or rigid mathematical formulas are
not required for a sentence outside the guidelines range, but we have said that the
district court should explain why the variance is appropriate in a particular case
and the justification for the variance must be sufficiently compelling to support
the degree of the variance. United States v. Irey, 612 F.3d 1160, 1186-87 (11th
Cir. 2010) (en banc) (quotation omitted). Likewise, although sentences outside the
guidelines are not presumed to be unreasonable, we may take the degree of a
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variance into account. United States v. Shaw, 560 F.3d 1230, 1237 (11th Cir.
2009).
Based on the record, we cannot say that the district court imposed a
substantively unreasonable sentence. The court clearly articulated enough its
reasons for the upward variance, specifically noting the violent nature of the
attempted robbery, Evanss leadership and planning role, and his attempts to
obstruct justice. The court considered that Evans indicated that he had followed a
female bank employee home and had learned that she had a husband that lived
there, and that Evans instructed his codefendants that, if she did not cooperate, they
were to apprehend the employees husband and use him to force her to open the
vault. The court also considered that Evans had threatened his codefendants, and
he forced one of them to sign an affidavit in an attempt to minimize his own
punishment. The court was within its discretion to find that these circumstances
took Evanss case out of the heartland of typical robbery cases and that the
circumstances warranted the upward departure.
In addition, the court considered the need to protect the public, reflect the
seriousness of the offense, promote respect for the law, and provide just
punishment. See 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)(2)(A), (C). Furthermore, the court
acknowledged Evanss mitigating factors, including his military service, history of
alcoholism, and his own status as a robbery victim. Moreover, the degree of the
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variance was not great (8 months); and the total 200-month sentence was well
below the statutory maximum sentences of 300 months on Count One and life on
Count Three. See Shaw, 560 F.3d at 1237; see also United States v. Gonzalez, 550
F.3d 1319, 1324 (11th Cir. 2008) (noting that a sentence well below the statutory
maximum was relevant to the reasonableness inquiry). Thus, based on the record,
the justification for the variance was easily sufficiently compelling to support its
degree. Evans cannot meet his burden of showing that the district court abused its
discretion in the light of the record and the 3553(a) factors. See Gall, 552 U.S. at
41, 128 S.Ct. at 591; Tome, 611 F.3d at 1378.
AFFIRMED.