U.S. v. Marmion

Dist. Ct. did not err in sentencing defendant to 35-month term of incarceration for violation of his supervised release, even though defendant had received original sentence of 174 days’ time served and 10 years supervised release on drug conspiracy charge. Record showed that said violation arose out of defendant’s failed drug test and admission of drug use. While recommended sentencing range for instant violation was 8 to 14 months, Dist. Ct. could properly impose instant sentence, where it was based, in part, on need to avoid disparity with substantial sentences of defendant’s co-defendants and to provide graduated punishment for defendant’s running violations of law. Ct. rejected defendant’s contention that Dist. Ct. erred in comparing his sentence to sentences received by his co-defendants as opposed to others who had supervised release revoked because of failed drug test, since defendant’s original sentence was less than five percent of statutory minimum, and, as such, defendant could not compare himself to his proposed comparatives.