upward-variance
33 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-6748 | John Edwin Corn, Jr. v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2026-02-06 | Pending | IFP | 18-USC-3553a criminal-sentencing mitigating-factors sentencing-guidelines substantive-reasonableness upward-variance | Following this Court's decision s in United States v. Booker , 543 U.S. 220 (2005), and Gall v. United States , 552 U.S. 38 (2007), whether a district… |
| 25-6068 | Eliezer Rosario-Ramos v. United States | First Circuit | 2025-11-10 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-sentencing first-offender judicial-discretion reasonableness-review sentencing-guidelines upward-variance | A. Whether first offender Rosario's 23-year prison sentence, that resulted from a 104.4% upward variance, is unreasonable because it was grounded on t… |
| 25-5427 | Rufus E. Dennis v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2025-08-21 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | base-offense-level criminal-procedure district-court hobbs-act sentencing-guidelines upward-variance | 1. Did the Defendant "possess" a handgun for the purposes of the sentencing court assessing a 5 point level increase to his base offense level, pursua… |
| 24-6441 | David Joseph Bunevacz v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2025-01-31 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-history due-process government-breach plea-agreement sentencing-guidelines upward-variance | 1. Whether petitioner David Joseph Bunevacz's convictions should be reversed because the government breached the plea agreement, in violation of this … |
| 24-5058 | Joseph Curtis Hubman v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2024-07-11 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3553(a)(2) 18-usc-3553a child-pornography criminal-history sentencing-guidelines sentencing-purposes upward-variance | Whether an upward variance sentence nearly two years higher than recommended by the Sentencing Guidelines is greater than necessary to comply with the… |
| 23-7022 | Elvis Edgardo Molina v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2024-03-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | burns-v-united-states due-process evidence-disclosure fifth-amendment guidelines guidelines-range judicial-discretion sentencing sentencing-variance upward-variance | Whether the district court's failure to disclose gun statistics from unknown sources of questionable validity to justify an unpre cedented 30-month up… |
| 23-6336 | Javier Garibay Mendoza, aka Javier Garibay Mendoza-Romero, aka Jose Mendoza-Romero v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2023-12-22 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3553(a) 18-usc-3553a circuit-split criminal-sentencing gall-v-united-states judicial-discretion procedural-obligations procedural-requirements sentencing-guidelines upward-variance | Under Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 50 (2007), a district court imposing an outside-Guidelines sentence "must consider the extent of the deviati… |
| 23-5437 | Adedayo Hakeem Sanusi v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2023-08-24 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | circuit-split due-process fundamental-fairness sentencing-guidelines sophisticated-means substantive-reasonableness upward-variance | 1. Whether the Appellant is deprived of Due Process and fundamentalsairness where the district court applies a sophisticated means enhancement based u… |
| 22-7796 | Jose Alfredo Perez v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2023-06-15 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | abuse-of-discretion appellate-review case-specific-facts criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing district-court due-process fifth-circuit sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance upward-variance | Whether a district court's mere recitation of the sentencing statute absent any application of case-specific facts is sufficient to support a five-yea… |
| 22-6092 | Joshua Lewis v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2022-11-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3553(a) 3553a-factors criminal-history departures guidelines-departure procedural-reasonableness sentencing-guidelines u.s.s.g.-4a1.3 upward-variance | Whether a district court can vary upward from the advisory sentencing range under the factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) based on the inadequacy of a defe… |
| 22-5562 | Christopher Alexander v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2022-09-12 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | due-process first-step-act government-response judicial-discretion misinformation reply section-404 sentencing sentencing-variance upward-variance | Whether Petitioner was denied his due process rights when the district court granted his Section 404 of the First Step Act motion, but imposed upward … |
| 22-5006 | David Cadena v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2022-06-30 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing district-court-discretion due-process reasonableness-review sentencing sentencing-guidelines statutory-maximum upward-variance | 1. Did the district court impose a substantively unreasonable sentence when it varied upward from the advisory sentencing range to the statutory maxim… |
| 21-8269 | James Paris Williams v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2022-06-29 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | advisory-guidelines advisory-range criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing district-court district-court-discretion sentencing sentencing-guidelines substantive-reasonableness upward-variance | 1. Did the district court impose a substantively unreasonable sentence when it varied upward from the advisory sentencing range? |
| 21-7759 | Mikkel McKinnie v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2022-05-03 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 21-usc-841 8th-amendment burrage-precedent causation drug-offense drug-related-death due-process guideline-range sentencing sentencing-reasonableness upward-variance | I. Whether the Lower Courts Erred in Not Applying the Court's Precedent in Burrage v. United States, 571 U.S. 204 (2014), to Upward Variances When a D… |
| 21-7445 | Juniel B. Rios v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2022-03-24 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | apprendi-rule apprendi-v-new-jersey constitutional-law criminal-procedure due-process federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure procedural-due-process sentencing sentencing-guidelines substantive-reasonableness upward-variance | 1. Whether Constitutional Due Process requires that Irizarry v. United States, 553 U.S. 708 (2008) that limited the Notice requirement in Fed.R.Crim.P… |
| 21-6838 | Bernard Steven Boyd v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2022-01-13 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment guideline-sentence guideline-sentencing judicial-discretion sentencing sentencing-variance upward-variance | Did the Trial Court provide insufficient information or explanation to an upward variance in the Petitioner's Guideline Sentence, from a range of 51 t… |
| 21-6566 | Steven Craig Bethea v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2021-12-09 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | abuse-of-discretion constitutional-review criminal-sentencing discretion eighth-amendment judicial-abuse sentencing sentencing-discretion substantive-reasonableness upward-variance | WHETHER THE DISTRICT COURT ERRED IN SENTENCING THE APPELLANT STEVEN BETHEA TO A GREATER SENTENCE THAN NECESSARY AS THE COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION BY … |
| 21-5425 | Jay J. Sawatzky v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2021-08-20 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process felon-in-possession first-amendment judicial-discretion racist-paraphernalia racist-views sentencing sentencing-variance upward-variance | May a sentencing judge impose an upward variance on a defendant convicted of possessing firearms and ammunition as a felon, based on that defendant's … |
| 20-6540 | Joshua N. Wright v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2020-12-04 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | abduction acquitted-conduct constitutional-law crime-of-violence criminal-law due-process federal-courts jury-instruction jury-instructions sentencing sentencing-enhancement upward-variance | 1. Whether the district court erred in its "crime of violence" instruction to the jury. 2. Whether the district court erred in assessing an enhanceme… |
| 20-6437 | Tommy Pena v. United States | Tenth Circuit | 2020-11-25 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | abuse-of-discretion appellate-review circuit-split criminal-sentencing reasonableness reasonableness-standard sentencing-guidelines sentencing-review upward-variance | Mr. Peña's 360-month sentence was an upward variance of 222 months, or 160%, from the high end of the total advisory guideline range of 123-138 months… |
| 20-6337 | Tramaine Standberry v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2020-11-16 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | acquitted-conduct crime-of-violence criminal-law district-court-discretion due-process guidelines-interpretation jury-trial sentencing sentencing-enhancement unconstitutional upward-variance | 1. Did the jury convict Mr. Standberry for a crime of violence that this Court has held is unconstitutional? 2. Was the district court's upward varia… |
| 19-8830 | Justin Michael Oxendine v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2020-06-26 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | abuse-of-discretion appellate-review circuit-court criminal-procedure due-process federal-sentencing federal-sentencing-guidelines judicial-discretion legal-standard sentencing sentencing-guidelines upward-variance | Whether the district court abused its discretion by varying upward when an applicable guideline provision addressed conduct that formed part of the ra… |
| 19-5071 | Erwin Burley v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-07-03 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review circuit-court criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing district-court district-court-discretion eleventh-circuit judicial-discretion sentencing-explanation sentencing-factors sentencing-guidelines supervisory-power upward-variance | Whether this Court should exercise its supervisory power and grant review because the Eleventh Circuit has permitted an upward variance sentence almos… |
| 18-9536 | Shawn J. Gieswein v. United States | Tenth Circuit | 2019-06-04 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | certificate-of-appealability crime-of-violence criminal-procedure ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel resentencing second-amendment sentencing-guidelines upward-variance witness-tampering | Whether the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit erroneously denied Certificate of Appealability |
| 18-9306 | Shawn Sayer v. United States | First Circuit | 2019-05-16 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3553 criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing due-process maximum-sentence probation-report procedural-error procedural-reasonableness sentencing sentencing-guidelines substantive-reasonableness upward-variance | Whether the district court erred by imposing a sentence without adequate explanation pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c), and the length of which sentence… |
| 18-8521 | Angel Galan v. United States | Second Circuit | 2019-03-22 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 8th-amendment criminal-procedure due-process felon-in-possession firearm-offense ineffective-assistance obstruction-enhancement sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance substantive-reasonableness upward-variance | Whether the sentencing court's upward variance from 71 months to 84 months for felon in possession of a firearm was substantively unreasonable |
| 18-8274 | Avniel Awan Anthony v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2019-03-05 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-procedure due-process Ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jurisdiction jurisdictional-issue obstruction-of-justice probation-department reckless-endangerment sentencing sentencing-enhancement Sentencing-enhancements sentencing-guidelines unproven-conduct Upward-variance | Does the U.S. Probation Department have authority to apply enhancements for conduct alleged to have happened outside the jurisdiction of the United St… |
| 18-7862 | Vincent Beatty, aka Jamaal Beatty, aka Vincent Daward Beatty, aka Mozzi v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2019-02-08 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | abuse-of-discretion advisory-guidelines criminal-history criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing felon-in-possession reasonableness reasonableness-review sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance sua-sponte upward-variance | Whether a sua sponte upward variance sentence is reasonable where the advisory Guideline range accurately reflected the defendant's conduct and prior … |
| 18-6729 | Jesus Santiago v. United States | Second Circuit | 2018-11-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review circuit-court-review civil-procedure criminal-procedure district-court due-process guidelines-calculation guidelines-range judicial-discretion sentencing-determination sentencing-guidelines upward-variance | Whether a circuit court can competently conclude that the Sentencing Guidelines were immaterial to a district court's sentencing determination |
| 18-5390 | Khalil Abu Rayyan v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2018-07-31 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | due-process fifth-amendment sentencing sentencing-guidelines sixth-amendment uncharged-conduct upward-variance | Whether the district court violated Khalil Abu Rayyan's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights by imposing an upward variance of almost three times the top … |
| 18-5397 | Alejandro Parra-Ramos v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2018-07-30 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-procedure defendant-prejudice due-process government-misconduct judicial-discretion plain-error plea-agreement plea-agreement-breach prejudice prosecutorial-breach sentencing sentencing-guidelines sentencing-recommendation sentencing-variance upward-variance | whether a defendant suffers prejudice when the government breaches a plea agreement by calling its agreed-upon recommendation irrational, and the cour… |
| 18-5308 | O'Neil Anthony Harris v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2018-07-20 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | advisory-guidelines congressional-intent guideline-amendment judicial-discretion sentence-enhancement sentencing-factors sentencing-guidelines sentencing-reform upward-variance | Whether a district court disregards congressional intent and imposes an unreasonable sentence when it applies an upward variance to the advisory sente… |
| 18-5089 | Kevin Khaaliq Beamon v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2018-07-02 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3553(a) criminal-history criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing due-process judicial-discretion sentencing-guidelines sentencing-upon-revocation sentencing-variance substance-addiction supervised-release upward-variance | Whether a district court may impose a significant upward variance at sentencing upon revocation of supervised release on an individual who had never b… |