March 30th, 2021

US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
United States v. Burney

Docket: 20-10529
Opinion Date: March 29, 2021
Judge: Jerry E. Smith
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence for wire fraud, concluding that the district court did not improperly consider defendant's socio-economic status. Rather, the court considered only defendant's "good" childhood and upbringing in justifying the upward variance. In this case, the district court considered that defendant did not grow "up in abject poverty" or "surrounded by violence," and it considered his parents' occupations in law enforcement. The court explained that these considerations do not constitute defendant's socioeconomic status, but are part of his background.

Read Opinion