United States v. Robertson

Antonio Robertson (defendant) was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The presentence report (PSR) included details of two prior arrests based on Robertson’s discharge of a firearm into an occupied residence or vehicle. Because of issues getting key witnesses to appear, Robertson was not convicted following either arrest. The PSR also included details regarding Robertson’s multiple past convictions on drug and gun charges and his repeated parole violations. Robertson did not dispute any of the facts in the PSR. The district court sentenced Robertson to 41 months in prison, an upward deviation from the 18-to-24-month guideline sentence. To explain the upward deviation, the court stated that Robertson had a long history of prior, unconvicted, violent conduct with guns, a history of parole violations, and a lengthy criminal record, all of which indicated Robertson’s prior sentences had not been sufficient to deter future criminal behavior. The district court further stated that although Robertson’s criminal history was a category three, it more closely resembled a category six, which was the highest possible criminal-history category. Robertson appealed the sentence, arguing that it was inappropriate for the district court to consider his prior, unconvicted arrest record as an upward-deviation factor.