United States v. Johney Freeman

USCA4 Appeal: 22-6921 Doc: 12 Filed: 07/27/2023 Pg: 1 of 2 UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 22-6921 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. JOHNEY FREEMAN, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Rebecca Beach Smith, Senior District Judge. (2:88-cr-00076-jcc-2) Submitted: July 25, 2023 Decided: July 27, 2023 Before WYNN and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Johney Freeman, Appellant Pro Se. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. *2 USCA4 Appeal: 22-6921 Doc: 12 Filed: 07/27/2023 Pg: 2 of 2 PER CURIAM: Johney Freeman appeals the district court’s order denying relief on his 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) motion for compassionate release based on the COVID-19 pandemic. We review the denial of a motion for compassionate release for abuse of discretion. United States v. Kibble, 992 F.3d 326, 329 (4th Cir. 2021). Upon review, we discern no abuse of discretion in the district court’s alternate ruling that the totality of the circumstances in this case, evaluated in light of the pertinent 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors, did not warrant the grant of compassionate release or a sentence reduction. United States v. Bethea, 54 F.4th 826, 833 (4th Cir. 2022) (observing our authority to “affirm a district court’s compassionate release decision regardless of a flaw in the eligibility analysis if its subsequent § 3553(a) assessment was sound”); see United States v. High, 997 F.3d 181, 187 (4th Cir. 2021) (discussing “abuse of discretion” standard in compassionate release context). Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order. United States v. Freeman, No. 2:88-cr-00076-jcc-2 (E.D. Va. July 27, 2022). We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED