United States v. Quentin Singletary, Docket No. 05-6145 (2d Cir. July 19, 2006) (Cabranes, Straub, Hall): At his initial sentencing before the decision in Booker, the defendant was given an upward departure to a sentence of 42 months on his conviction for possessing crack with the intent to distribute it. He appealed, and the case was remanded for resentencing under the Supreme Court’s decision in Booker. Upon remand the district court raised the sentence to 57 months’ imprisonment, relying on facts all of which had been in the record before and noting that previously it had “felt constrained” by the guidelines, although since it was departing it had not been constrained in any legal sense, but was required only to impose a reasonable sentence, the same standard that applied post-Booker.
On his second appeal, the defendant argued pursuant to North Carolina v. Pearce…