United States v. Fleming, No. 11-8012 (10th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant-Appellant Michael Fleming challenged his conviction and sentence by direct appeal to the Tenth Circuit. A jury convicted Defendant of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. The United States Probation Office's presentence report recommended a two-level enhancement on Defendant's offense level for obstruction of justice under section 3C1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines. Defendant objected to the enhancement. The district court rejected his arguments and concluded that his conduct had "a tendency to obstruct justice and certainly created risks to the witnesses and concerns on their part." The court sentenced Defendant to 240 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release. Defendant argued on appeal to the Tenth Circuit that the prosecutor made improper statements during closing arguments at trial and thereby violated his right to a fair trial. He also argued that the district court erred by applying the enhancement. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit held that the prosecutor's statements during closing argument did not warrant reversal of Petitioner's conviction. Furthermore, the Court held that the district court did not err in applying the enhancement to his sentence for obstruction of justice.
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