There were no opinions in criminal cases from the Circuit this day. The Circuit issued a single summary affirmance in United States v. Miller, No.15-108-cr, where it rejected the defendant’s claim that his 144-month – but nevertheless below-Guidelines – sentence was substantively unreasonable.
United States v. Miller, No.15-108-cr:
Miller was convicted of a drug distribution conspiracy ( 21 U.S.C. § 846) involving a (b)(1)A)-quantity of drugs — i.e., 21 U.S.C. § 841. The drugs were more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. He committed the offense “while on supervised release from a prior conviction for cocaine trafficking and firearms possession.” His sole contention on appeal, according to the Circuit, was that his 144-month prison sentence, which was a downward variance from a Guidelines range of 151 to 188 months, “was substantively unreasonable the because the only reasonable sentence is one at the statutory minimum of 120 months’ …