United States v. Larry Gene Eirven

I

Larry Eirven appeals from a sentence for armed robbery. To save trees and our readers’ patience, we dispose of most of Eirven’s claims in an unpublished memorandum. In this opinion, we address only his obstruction of justice argument.

Eirven had a long criminal record even before he committed this robbery. He also had a serious drug problem, which his lawyer says made it hard for him to remember things, including some of his past criminal convictions (which led to relatively short sentences). When Eirven’s Presentence Report suggested a criminal history category of VI, Eirven’s lawyer filed an objection that said, in part:

Objections to Presentence Report at 2. The probation officer reviewed records of the four convictions and decided to exclude one of them because the signature on a document in that case “[did] not appear to be [Eirven’s].” Addendum to the Presen-tence Report at 2.

However, because the probation officer found Eirven had indeed been the defendant in the other three cases, she concluded Eirven was “purposefully attempting to mislead the Court by denying that he was arrested and convicted” in those cases. Id. at 3. She therefore recommended that the court…