United States v. James Townsend, 708 F. App'x 111

James L. Townsend pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 100+ grams of heroin (21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(B)(i), 846).
District court calculated an advisory Guidelines range of 60–71 months.
Court found Townsend’s criminal history category underrepresented his history and applied an upward departure under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3(a), increasing the range to 77–96 months.
The court then applied a downward departure to reach the 60‑month statutory minimum (Guidelines adjustment), and finally varied upward under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) to impose an 84‑month sentence.
Townsend appealed, arguing the upward departure was unjustified because his prior convictions were scored and there were no unscored violations typically underlying § 4A1.3 departures; he also argued the court improperly discounted mitigating factors.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed, holding the district court did not abuse its discretion in departing or in imposing the 84‑month sentence after weighing § 3553(a) factors.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether an upward departure under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3 was justified	Townsend: Departure was improper because his prior convictions were already scored and he lacked the unscored violations that typically justify § 4A1.3 departures	Government: District court reasonably relied on violent nature of prior crimes, lenient prior sentences, and recidivism; § 4A1.3 background permits consideration of these factors	Affirmed — departure was reasonable in both decision and extent
Whether the 84‑month sentence was substantively unreasonable under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)	Townsend: Court overemphasized early criminal history and failed to give adequate weight to mitigating factors (difficult childhood, GED, remorse, rehabilitation)	Government: Court appropriately balanced offense, history, and mitigating factors and explained why 84 months was warranted	Affirmed — sentence substantively reasonable after considering totality of circumstances

Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38 (2007) (review of sentencing decisions under abuse‑of‑discretion; consider totality of circumstances)
United States v. Howard, 773 F.3d 519 (4th Cir. 2014) (deference to district court’s § 3553(a) assessments and standards for reviewing departures)