United States First Circuit

In defendant's conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm, district court's imposition of a 46-months' imprisonment is affirmed where: 1) an upward departure was reasonable, as defendant's frequent run-ins with law enforcement were adequately suggestive of unlawful misbehavior for the district court to determine that his 1988 conviction for a serious and violent crime should be viewed not as a thing of the past but as indicative of a penchant for dangerous criminality not typically associated with a Category I criminal history; 2) the district court offered an adequate explanation why the departure should be by two categories rather than one; and 3) the district court did not fail to balance the relevant 18 U.S.C. section 3553(a) mitigating factors.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/24/2012
• Published 08/24/2012

Judges

• Hawkins

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel