United States v. Lee, 480 F. App'x 943

Lee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, methamphetamine, and possessing a firearm as a felon.
Lee’s federal sentence was 168 months’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release in 2004, reduced to 97 months in 2005.
Lee began supervised release in June 2010, but later faced state convictions and federal leniency allowed home confinement during revocation proceedings.
Lee admitted to using methamphetamine on at least three occasions between January and March 2011, and pled guilty to state charges of domestic battery, unlawful contact, and interference with a police call.
The district court revoked Lee’s supervised release and calculated a guideline range of five to eleven months under U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4(a).
The district court announced its intent to vary from the guidelines and imposed a three-year term of imprisonment followed by two years of supervised release.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Procedural sufficiency of explanation	Lee argues the court failed to consider all §3553(a) factors.	Lee contends the court provided inadequate or insufficient reasoning for the variance.	Procedural explanation was adequate; variance explained beyond Steele standard.
Substantive reasonableness of the sentence	Lee asserts the sentence is substantively unreasonable.	Lee’s repeated misconduct and violations support a harsher sentence.	Sentence not substantively unreasonable; warranted by revocation and prior conduct.

United States v. Steele, 603 F.3d 803 (10th Cir. 2010) (plain-error review for revocation of supervised release; district court must consider appropriate factors)