United States v. Carnell King

HAMILTON, Circuit Judge.

Defendant Carnell King appeals his below-guideline sentence. Since he pled guilty and the district court’s guideline calculation was admittedly correct, it is not surprising that we affirm the sentence. We issue a precedential opinion in the case, however, because King has raised a novel argument about the relationship between the Sentencing Guidelines and the statute instructing sentencing judges on what to consider in making their decisions, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).

The district judge did exactly what he was supposed to do in this case: calculate the correct offense level…