United States of America v. LLOYD GAGE, AKA Lloyd Gage, AKA Lloyd L Gage, AKA Lloyd Vonta Gage, AKA Raymond Twine

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
LLOYD GAGE, AKA Lloyd Gage, AKA
Lloyd L Gage, AKA Lloyd Vonta Gage,
AKA Raymond Twine,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 17-10453
D.C. No.
3:12-cr-00276-CRB-1
MEMORANDUM*
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
LLOYD GAGE, AKA Lloyd Gage, AKA
Lloyd L Gage, AKA Lloyd Vonta Gage,
AKA Raymond Twine,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 17-10454
D.C. No.
3:17-cr-00264-CRB-1
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of California
Charles R. Breyer, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted December 17, 2018
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
FILED
JAN 4 2019
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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San Francisco, California
Before: M. SMITH and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges, and RESTANI,** Judge.
Defendant Lloyd Gage appeals his sentence following his conviction for
being a felon in possession of a firearm and his violation of supervised release
conditions from a previous conviction. Gage alleges that the district court
committed several procedural errors during sentencing. We disagree and affirm
the sentence.
1. The district court did not commit plain error by failing to affirmatively state
on the record the Sentencing Guidelines range for both Gage’s substantive
conviction and supervised release conditions violation. The district court must
determine the applicable Guidelines range by “consider[ing] the presentence report
as well as any objections the parties might have. The court then entertains the
parties’ arguments regarding an appropriate sentence, including whether the
sentence should be within the Guidelines range or not.” Molina-Martinez v.
United States, 136 S. Ct. 1338, 1342 (2016).
The district court did precisely what the Supreme Court requires it to do.
The sentencing hearing began with a confirmation from defense counsel that she
had discussed the Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) with Gage. The district
** The Honorable Jane A. Restani, Judge for the United States Court of
International Trade, sitting by designation.

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court then proceeded to discuss Gage’s objections to the PSR. After addressing
these objections and ultimately finding a four level enhancement appropriate for
Gage’s substantive offense, the district court heard arguments regarding an
appropriate sentence. The record additionally reflects that both parties understood
the Guidelines range applicable for a 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) conviction and the
implication of a four level enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(6)(B).
While the district court did not follow the same procedure for Gage’s
supervised release conditions violation, it is clear that the court considered the
parties’ arguments and the Supervised Release Violation Memorandum’s (SRVM)
suggested Guidelines range. The government clarified that Gage’s sentence for
violating his supervised release conditions is limited to 22 months under 18 U.S.C.
§ 3583(e)(3)—a sentence falling in the middle of the Guidelines range. Gage
failed to object to the government’s representations of the Guidelines range.
Additionally, while we do not recognize a presumption of reasonableness for a
within-Guidelines sentence, we “abide by the Supreme Court’s admonition that
‘when the judge’s discretionary decision accords with the Commission’s view’ . . .
, it is probable that the sentence is reasonable.” United States v. Carty, 520 F.3d
984, 994 (9th Cir. 2008) (quoting Rita v. United States, 551 U.S. 338, 351 (2007)).
Since Gage failed to object at the sentencing hearing, he must show that the
district court’s failure to state the Sentencing Guidelines calculation affected his

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substantial rights and constituted plain error. Molina-Martinez, 136 S. Ct. at 1343.
Gage has not done so here. Gage’s conduct constituted a Grade A violation due to
the presence of marijuana and, as such, the SRVM reflected an accurate
Sentencing Guidelines range. U.S.S.G. § 7B1.1(a)(1)(ii). Gage’s only other
objection to the SRVM Guidelines range is a policy argument that does not affect
his substantial rights.
2. The district court provided little reasoning, but articulated sufficient facts to
establish a basis for the four level enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G.
§ 2K2.1(b)(6)(B). The court found that Gage “decided with others that they were
going to engage in the business of selling marijuana.” The nature of the items
found in Gage’s backpacks—marijuana, plastic baggies, a scale, a calculator, and
several items identifying Gage—supports the court’s finding of an intent to sell or
distribute marijuana by a preponderance of the evidence. Lastly, in Gage’s
sentencing brief, he admitted that the enhancement likely applied.
3. There is no indication that the district court improperly considered Gage’s
substantive offense when determining his supervised release conditions violation
sentence. While a district court “may not punish him for the criminal conduct
underlying the revocation,” United States v. Hammons, 558 F.3d 1100, 1104 (9th
Cir. 2009) (quoting United States v. Miqbel, 444 F.3d 1173, 1182 (9th Cir. 2006)),
there is no “blanket proposition that a court in no circumstances may consider the

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seriousness of the criminal offense underlying the revocation.” United States v.
Simtob, 485 F.3d 1058, 1062 (9th Cir. 2007).
Though convoluted at times, the district court considered Gage’s breach of
the court’s trust and perceived inability to conform his conduct to his supervised
release conditions. The court noted that “a specific deterrent” is needed “[i]f a
defendant doesn’t get the message or just doesn’t follow the message.” To the
extent that the court considered Gage’s substantive offense in calculating his
violation of supervised release conditions sentence, it was appropriate to recognize
that the substantive offense was identical to Gage’s previous conviction
underpinning the supervised release conditions that Gage violated. See id. (“The
history of the violator, when combined with the violator’s most recent criminal
offenses, and particularly when similar to the past transgressions, is indicative of
the violator’s propensity for recidivism and inability to integrate peacefully into a
community.”).
4. Finally, the district court did not fail to explain a twelve-month upward
variance as there was no variance in Gage’s supervised release violation sentence.
As discussed above, Gage’s offense constituted a Grade A violation due to the
presence of marijuana. U.S.S.G. § 7B1.1(a)(1)(ii). While a more robust discussion
is preferable, the district court adequately pointed to Gage’s failure to follow court-
imposed supervised release conditions and his recidivist conduct to explain its

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middle of the Guidelines range sentence.
AFFIRMED.

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