United States v. Gary Castle
669 F. App'x 277
| 5th Cir. | 2016Background
- Defendant Gary Wayne Castle pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute marijuana and to failure to appear.
- Castle admitted trafficking over 157 kilograms of marijuana on two occasions and absconding for six years after the drug offense.
- District court adopted the presentence report, considered Castle’s criminal history, and sentenced him to a total of 65 months’ imprisonment (60 months for the drug offense, 5 months for failure to appear), with supervised release terms as noted.
- Castle appealed, arguing the sentence was substantively unreasonable because the district court gave undue weight to one § 3553(a) factor when imposing a sentence above the Guidelines range.
- As an alternative, Castle sought remand to correct the judgments to reflect consecutive sentences of 60 and 5 months.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the above-Guidelines sentence was substantively unreasonable | Castle: district court gave undue weight to a § 3553(a) factor, producing an unreasonable variance | Government: district court reasonably weighed seriousness, deterrence, absconding, and criminal history | Affirmed — sentence not substantively unreasonable; district court reasonably balanced § 3553(a) factors |
| Whether judgments should be remanded to correct sentencing entries | Castle: judgments should reflect 60 months (drug) and 5 months (failure to appear) served consecutively | Government: judgments already accurately reflect the court’s intent and the law | Affirmed — decline to remand; judgments accurately reflect intent and statutory sentencing |
Key Cases Cited
- Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38 (2007) (sets the framework for appellate review of sentencing reasonableness)
- United States v. Delgado-Martinez, 564 F.3d 750 (5th Cir. 2009) (bifurcated procedural and substantive reasonableness review)
- United States v. Churchwell, 807 F.3d 107 (5th Cir. 2015) (standards for when a variance is substantively unreasonable)
- United States v. McElwee, 646 F.3d 328 (5th Cir. 2011) (upholding similar extent of variance above Guidelines)