Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids.
No. 1:22-cr-00090-1—Hala Y. Jarbou, District Judge.
Argued: October 27, 2023
Decided and Filed: February 14, 2024
Before: WHITE, STRANCH, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges.
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OPINION
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NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. Antwaun Allen pleaded guilty to possessing
methamphetamine with intent to distribute. At sentencing, he sought a downward variance from
his Guidelines range, raising the government’s role in his offense, policy critiques of the
Guidelines’ treatment of meth purity, as well as other mitigating offense and character traits. The
district court sentenced Allen to 108 months, at the bottom of his Guidelines range.
Allen makes three arguments on appeal. First, Allen claims the sentence is procedurally
unreasonable because the district court failed to address the government’s provocation of his
offense. Second, Allen claims that the sentence is procedurally unreasonable because the district
court impermissibly ceded its sentencing discretion to Congress. Finally, Allen argues the
sentence is substantively unreasonable because the district court exclusively relied on the meth’s
weight and purity, as reflected in the Guidelines, to the neglect of his “whole person.” Because
we conclude his three claims lack merit, we AFFIRM. |