United States v. Earl Dejon Leonard

This case primarily presents the question of whether, following violation by a defendant of conditions of supervised release, a district court may impose a sentence above the advisory range set forth in the Sentencing Guidelines, without giving advance notice of the possibility of a sentence outside the Guidelines range. We conclude that such advance notice is not required and affirm the sentence imposed in this case.

I. Background

Defendant Earl Dejon Leonard was convicted in 1998 of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922 (g) and 924(c). For that offense he was sentenced to serve a prison term of six years, to be followed by three years of supervised release. He was released from prison and began the supervised release in April 2004. Among other conditions of his release, Leonard was to find regular work, stay off drugs, submit urine samples for drug testing, and tell his supervising probation officer of any contact with the police.

By February 2006, Leonard had violated all four of these conditions. Leonard reported only $324.50 of earnings from July and August 2005, and he provided no other proof of employment. He also tested positive for…