# United States v. Hemby-Brown

> Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · July 16, 2007 · 233 F. App'x 328

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/1023178

## Case

- **Full name:** UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff—Appellee, v. Shonate HEMBY-BROWN, Defendant—Appellant
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- **Decided:** July 16, 2007
- **Citations:** 233 F. App'x 328
- **Precedential status:** Unpublished
- **Opinion:** Opinion
- **Judges:** Niemeyer, Traxler, Hamilton
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 06-4722

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

versus

SHONATE HEMBY-BROWN,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at New Bern. Louise W. Flanagan, Chief
District Judge. (5:04-cr-00026-FL-2)

Submitted: June 25, 2007 Decided: July 16, 2007

Before NIEMEYER and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Walter A. Schmidlin, III, ANDERSON, JONES & GENGO, PLLC, Raleigh,
North Carolina, for Appellant. George E. B. Holding, United States
Attorney, Anne M. Hayes, Christine Witcover Dean, Assistant United
States Attorneys, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:

Shonate Hemby-Brown appeals from her fifty-month sentence

imposed after we remanded for resentencing in accordance with

United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), and United States v.

Hughes, 401 F.3d 540 (4th Cir. 2005). She contends that, after

Booker, the district court was prohibited from imposing sentencing

enhancements where the factual findings supporting the enhancements

were not charged in the indictment and found by a jury beyond a

reasonable doubt. She also challenges the factual findings

supporting the enhancements, asserting that they were unsupported

and that the loss amount determined for sentencing differed from

the amount determined for restitution. Finding no error, we

affirm.

Hemby-Brown argues that the district court violated her

Sixth Amendment rights by enhancing her sentence based on factual

findings that were not submitted to the jury and found beyond a

reasonable doubt. This is incorrect. Rather, as directed by this

court on remand and by Hughes, 401 F.3d at 546, the district court

first determined the appropriate sentencing range under the

Sentencing Guidelines, making all factual findings appropriate for

that determination. Hughes, 401 F.3d at 546. The court then

considered the resulting sentencing range and the sentencing

factors in 18 U.S.C.A. § 3553(a) (West 2000 & Supp. 2007), and

imposed sentence. Contrary to Hemby-Brown’s contentions, the

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district court was authorized--indeed directed--to make the factual

findings as it did.

Hemby-Brown also challenges the reasonableness of the

findings that increased her offense level and thus her sentence,

asserting that they were not supported by the evidence.

Specifically, she contends that there was insufficient evidence to

support the amount of loss determination, the finding that there

were ten or more victims of the offense, and the amount of

restitution. Because these issues are raised for the first time in

this appeal, we review for plain error. United States v. Olano,

507 U.S. 725, 734 (1993); United States v. White, 405 F.3d 208, 215

(4th Cir. 2005). We find that the amount of loss was foreseeable to

Hemby-Brown, and that the district court’s findings as to the

amount of loss, the number of victims, and the use of

identification of another person in the creation of identification

documents are supported by the record and the enhancements were

properly applied. Thus, there was no plain error in the

application of the sentencing enhancements. Id.

Lastly, Hemby-Brown asserts that the district court’s

determination of the loss amounts was unreasonable, because the

amount of loss used to compute the increase to her sentence

differed from the amount of loss used to determine restitution.

Different standards and different considerations govern the

determination of intended loss for determination of the Sentencing

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Guidelines range and actual loss for purposes of restitution.

Compare U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 2B1.1 cmt. n.3(A)

(2002), with 18 U.S.C.A. § 3663A(b)(1) (West 2000 & Supp. 2007).

The district court did not plainly err in computing these amounts.

See Olano, 507 U.S. at 731-32.

Because the district court properly applied the

Guidelines as advisory and imposed a sentence within the

appropriately calculated Guideline range, we find that the sentence

is reasonable. See United States v. Green, 436 F.3d 449, 457 (4th

Cir.) (“[A] sentence imposed within the properly calculated

[g]uidelines range . . . is presumptively reasonable.”) (internal

quotation marks and citation omitted), cert. denied, 126 S. Ct.

2309 (2006); see also Rita v. United States, 551 U.S. , No. 06-

5754, at pp. 7-16 (U.S. June 21, 2007) (slip copy) (upholding the

application of rebuttable presumption of reasonableness of a within

Guidelines sentence). Accordingly, we affirm Hemby-Brown’s

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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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/1023178. Public record. Not legal advice.
