United States v. Christopher Booker, 669 F. App'x 826

Booker pleaded guilty to two counts of bank robbery (18 U.S.C. §§ 2113(a) and 2) and was sentenced to 324 months’ imprisonment.
As part of the plea agreement, the government agreed to request a 3-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility, but later opposed the reduction based on Booker’s jailhouse interaction with DePaul Bush.
Bush, who had shared a cell with Booker, committed a bank robbery and stated Booker had instructed him on planning and a post-robbery coded communication; Booker then informed jail officers implicating Bush.
The PSR calculated Booker’s total offense level at 36 and criminal history category VI (total criminal history score 18 and career-offender designation), yielding a Guidelines range of 324–405 months; the district court imposed 324 months.
Booker appealed, asserting (1) the district court failed to consider § 3553(a) factors, (2) the court wrongly denied the 3-level acceptance reduction, and (3) the court erred in counting prior convictions separately for criminal-history calculation.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court failed to consider the § 3553(a) factors	Booker: court did not account for his personal history (abuse, foster care, mental health, addiction, poor schooling)	Government: court stated it considered § 3553(a) and recommended treatment evaluations	No plain error; court stated it considered § 3553(a) and showed awareness of Booker’s personal problems
Whether Booker was entitled to a 3-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility	Booker: plea agreement and conduct support the reduction	Government: Booker encouraged Bush’s robbery and urged jailhouse conduct undermining acceptance	Affirmed; district court reasonably denied reduction based on Booker’s encouragement of the robbery
Whether four prior convictions (consolidated) should be counted separately in criminal-history scoring	Booker: consolidated convictions should not have been counted separately	Government: convictions were separated by intervening arrests so count separately under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(a)(2)	No plain error; convictions were separated by intervening arrests and properly counted separately

United States v. Black, 670 F.3d 877 (8th Cir. 2012) (plain-error review when sentencing objections not raised below)
United States v. Olson, 716 F.3d 1052 (8th Cir. 2013) (district court need only show awareness of § 3553(a) factors)
United States v. Perkins, 526 F.3d 1107 (8th Cir. 2008) (same—awareness of relevant factors satisfies § 3553(a))
United States v. Gonzalez, 781 F.3d 422 (8th Cir. 2015) (standard for reviewing denial of acceptance-of-responsibility reduction)
United States v. Adejumo, 772 F.3d 513 (8th Cir. 2014) (denial of acceptance reduction reversible only if without foundation)
United States v. Arellano, 291 F.3d 1032 (8th Cir. 2002) (defendant’s jail conduct can negate acceptance-of-responsibility reduction)
United States v. Harvey, [citation="617 F. App'x 592"] (8th Cir. 2015) (plain-error review of criminal-history calculation)