# United States v. Woodrow Brown, II

> Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · December 26, 2012 · 501 F. App'x 289

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/814347

## Case

- **Full name:** UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Woodrow Wilson BROWN, II, Defendant-Appellant
- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- **Decided:** December 26, 2012
- **Citations:** 501 F. App'x 289
- **Precedential status:** Unpublished
- **Opinion:** Opinion
- **Judges:** King, Duncan, 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UNPUBLISHED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. 12-4312

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff – Appellee,

v.

WOODROW WILSON BROWN, II,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Greenville. James C. Fox, Senior
District Judge. (4:06-cr-00026-F-1)

Submitted: December 20, 2012 Decided: December 26, 2012

Before KING and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

J. Michael McGuinness, THE MCGUINNESS LAW FIRM, Elizabethtown,
North Carolina, for Appellant. Jennifer P. May-Parker, Assistant
United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

Woodrow Wilson Brown, II, appeals from the revocation

of his supervised release and the resulting sixty-month

sentence. Brown’s counsel has filed an Anders v. California,

386 U.S. 738 (1967) brief, stating that there are no meritorious

issues for appeal. The Government did not file a brief. Brown

filed a pro se supplemental brief. We affirm.

This court reviews the district court’s revocation of

supervised release for abuse of discretion. See United

States v. Pregent, 190 F.3d 279, 282 (4th Cir. 1999). The

district court need only find a violation of a term of

supervised release by a preponderance of the evidence. 18

U.S.C.A. § 3583(e)(3) (West Supp. 2012); see United States v.

Armstrong, 187 F.3d 392, 394 (4th Cir. 1999). We have reviewed

the record and conclude that the district court did not abuse

its discretion in determining by a preponderance of the evidence

that Brown violated the terms of his supervised release.

In his pro se supplemental brief, Brown contends that

his sixty-month sentence is exponentially higher than the

Sentencing Guidelines range applicable to the revocation. A

district court has broad discretion to impose a sentence upon

revoking a defendant’s supervised release. United States v.

Thompson, 595 F.3d 544, 547 (4th Cir. 2010). We will affirm a

sentence imposed after revocation of supervised release if it is

2
within the applicable statutory maximum and is not “plainly

unreasonable.” United States v. Crudup, 461 F.3d 433, 439-40

(4th Cir. 2006). In determining whether a revocation sentence

is plainly unreasonable, we first assess the sentence for

reasonableness, “follow[ing] generally the procedural and

substantive considerations that we employ in our review of

original sentences.” Id. at 438. A supervised release

revocation sentence is procedurally reasonable if the district

court considered the Sentencing Guidelines’ Chapter 7 advisory

policy statements and the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) (2006) factors

that it is permitted to consider in a supervised release

revocation case. See Crudup, 461 F.3d at 439. Although the

court need not explain the reasons for imposing a revocation

sentence in as much detail as when it imposes an original

sentence, “it still must provide a statement of reasons for the

sentence imposed.” Thompson, 595 F.3d at 547 (internal

quotation marks omitted). A revocation sentence is

substantively reasonable if the district court stated a proper

basis for concluding the defendant should receive the sentence

imposed, up to the statutory maximum. Crudup, 461 F.3d at 440.

Only if a sentence is found procedurally or substantively

unreasonable will we “then decide whether the sentence is

plainly unreasonable.” Id. at 439.

3
After review of the record, we conclude that the

revocation sentence is not plainly unreasonable. The

sixty-month prison term does not exceed the applicable maximum

allowed by statute and was supported by the district court’s

reasoning. See 18 U.S.C.A. § 3583(h) (West Supp. 2012). The

district court considered the argument of Brown’s counsel, the

Guidelines advisory range, and relevant § 3553(a) factors,

addressing on the record Brown’s complete disregard for the

court, the revocation system, and the probation office. See 18

U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1), (a)(2)(B)-(C); U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

Manual Ch. 7, Pt. A, introductory cmt. 3(b) (2011). The

district court adequately explained its rationale for imposing

the sentence, and the reasons relied upon are proper bases for

the sentence imposed.

Accordingly, we conclude that Brown’s sentence was

reasonable, and we affirm the district court’s order revoking

supervised release and imposing the sixty-month prison sentence.

We have reviewed Brown’s remaining claims in his pro se informal

brief and conclude that they are without merit. In accordance

with Anders, we have reviewed the record in this case and have

found no meritorious issues for appeal. This court requires

that counsel inform Brown, in writing, of the right to petition

the Supreme Court of the United States for further review. If

Brown requests that a petition be filed, but counsel believes

4
that such a petition would be frivolous, then counsel may move

in this court for leave to withdraw from representation.

Counsel’s motion must state that a copy thereof was served on

Brown. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and

legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials

before this court and argument would not aid the decisional

process.

AFFIRMED

5

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/814347. Public record. Not legal advice.
