By Andrew Kilpinen
Today, in an unpublished decision, the 4th Circuit affirmed a district court decision from the Western District of Virginia in U.S. v. Douglas Thomas, Jr.
Mr. Thomas Sentenced to 5 Months in Prison and 4 Years Supervised Release
The district court revoked Mr. Thomas’s supervised release for failing to comply with the terms of his release. Mr. Thomas was sentenced to an additional five months imprisonment and four years supervised release.
Mr. Thomas Argued Impossible to Stop Smoking Marijuana
The crux of Mr. Thomas’s appeal was that it was impossible for him to stop smoking marijuana. The terms of any supervised release includes not smoking marijuana. Therefore, according to Mr. Thomas, the district courts sentence including supervised release was substantively unreasonable.
District Court’s Judgment Plainly Reasonable
The Court was not persuaded that the sentence was substantively unreasonable. Pointing to the fact that Mr. Thomas failed to attend rehab during his supervised release, the Court found the district court’s decision to be “plainly reasonable.”
