United States v. Fabian Taylor, Jr.

Fabian Taylor, Jr., pleaded guilty to possessing a gun while a felon and was sentenced to 96 months’ imprisonment. This sentence reflects a 25-month upward departure from Taylor’s initial Guidelines range. The district court 2 enhanced the sentence to reflect Taylor’s understated criminal history and his recidivism risk. Taylor appeals this departure and the substantive reasonableness of his sentence. We affirm.

In July 2014, Taylor shot a .357 Ruger revolver toward people he believed had assaulted him a few days earlier. As a felon, Taylor could not lawfully possess this firearm. After he…