United States v. Robert Sawyer

── United States v. Robert Sawyer ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: April 24, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-12555 Document: 28-1 Date Filed: 04/24/2026 Page: 1 of 10 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-12555 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus ROBERT LEE SAWYER, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 5:98-cr-00067-TES-CHW-1 ____________________ Before NEWSOM, LAGOA, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Robert Sawyer appeals the district court’s denial of his mo- tion for compassionate release, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. USCA11 Case: 25-12555 Document: 28-1 Date Filed: 04/24/2026 Page: 2 of 10 2 Opinion of the Court 25-12555 § 3582(c)(1)(A). For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the dis- trict court’s order and conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 1. Middle District of Georgia Conviction and Sentence On July 16, 1998, a federal grand jury in the Middle District of Georgia indicted Sawyer for (1) possession with intent to distrib- ute cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (Count 1) and (2) possession of a firearm by a con- victed felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g), 924(a), and 924(e) (Count 2). On February 16, 1999, the district court in the Middle Dis- trict of Georgia sentenced Sawyer to 240 months’ imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release (“Georgia sentence”). The district court then remanded Sawyer into the custody of the U.S. Marshals. In 2020, the district court in the Middle District of Georgia reduced Sawyer’s sentence to 235 months’ imprisonment, pursu- ant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and Sentencing Guidelines Amend- ment 782. 2. Southern District of Florida Sentence Prior to Sawyer’s indictment in the Middle District of Geor- gia, on April 9, 1998, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted Sawyer for one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on or about March 7, 1997, in violation of 18 USCA11 Case: 25-12555 Document: 28-1 Date Filed: 04/24/2026 Page: 3 of 10 25-12555 Opinion of the Court 3 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). An arrest warrant for Sawyer was issued the same day, but was not executed until March 16, 1999, a month after his Middle District of Georgia conviction. Sawyer initially pled not guilty but later changed his plea to guilty pursuant to a plea agree- ment. On August 18, 1999, the district court in the Southern Dis- trict of Florida sentenced Sawyer to 180 months to run consecu- tively with his Georgia sentence, followed by 5 years of supervised release (“Florida sentence”). The district court then in the South- ern District of Florida remanded Sawyer into the custody of the U.S. Marshals. Sawyer was delivered to the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 9, 1999.