United States v. Damon Houston

── United States v. Damon Houston ── Case No.: 25-10908 Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: March 13, 2026 Category: CON USCA11 Case: 25-10902 Document: 38-1 Date Filed: 03/13/2026 Page: 1 of 14 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-10902 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus DAMON EUGENE HOUSTON, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 4:15-cr-00037-RH-MAF-1 ____________________ ____________________ No. 25-10908 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, USCA11 Case: 25-10902 Document: 38-1 Date Filed: 03/13/2026 Page: 2 of 14 2 Opinion of the Court 25-10902 versus DAMON EUGENE HOUSTON, a.k.a. Derek Mullough, a.k.a. Derrick Mcullough, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 4:21-cr-00020-AW-MAF-1 ____________________ Before JORDAN, BRANCH, and KIDD, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Damon Houston appeals the district court’s imposition of a 60-month prison sentence after it found Houston violated the conditions of his supervised release from sentences in Houston’s 2015 and 2021 criminal cases. Houston argues that the district court’s sentence is substantively unreasonable because it imposed consecutive, rather than concurrent, sentences and did not properly weigh the mitigating evidence he offered. We affirm because the district court did not abuse its discretion, and the sentence was substantively reasonable. I. Background Houston is no stranger to run-ins with the law. In 2015, a grand jury indicted Houston and charged him with three counts of knowingly and intentionally distributing a controlled substance (methamphetamine), one count of carrying a firearm while doing USCA11 Case: 25-10902 Document: 38-1 Date Filed: 03/13/2026 Page: 3 of 14 25-10902 Opinion of the Court 3 so, and two counts of knowingly possessing a firearm and ammunition while being a convicted felon. Houston pled guilty to all charges. The district court sentenced Houston to 84 months’ total imprisonment, with three years of supervised release to follow. The supervised release conditions included requirements that Houston “shall not commit another federal, state, or local crime” and “shall not purchase, possess, use, distribute, or administer any controlled substance . . . except as prescribed by a physician.” In 2021, another grand jury indicted Houston and charged him with knowingly escaping from custody by willfully failing to remain within the extended limits of his confinement at a