United States v. Jerry Joseph Laverne

Defendant/Appellant, Jerry Laverne, appeals the sentence he received under the United States Sentencing Guidelines for bank robbery. 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a) (1988); U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1. Laverne argues that the district court erred by announcing Laverne’s sentence before Laverne was allowed to address the court in the sentencing hearing. We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1988). We affirm the district court’s decision.

BACKGROUND

On March 29, 1989, Laverne plead guilty to bank robbery. Because Laverne had been convicted of five violent felonies over the last twenty-seven years, ranging from rape to kidnapping to armed robbery, he was properly classified as a “career offender” under Sentencing Guidelines section 4B1.1. Laverne was represented by counsel at all times, and the originally scheduled sentencing hearing was postponed to allow Laverne’s attorney to file a sentencing brief. In the brief and at the sentencing hearing, Laverne’s attorney argued that the Sentencing Guidelines produced a disproportionately harsh sentence for Laverne because Láveme was not really a “violent criminal,” and he urged the court to impose a lesser sentence.

The district…