United States of America v. Equan Cornelius Dunston

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 22-6786
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
EQUAN CORNELIUS DUNSTON,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at
Raleigh. James C. Dever III, District Judge. (5:18-cr-00022-D-1)
Submitted: December 13, 2022 Decided: May 18, 2023
Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, WYNN, Circuit Judge, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit
Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Equan Cornelius Dunston, Appellant Pro Se. Rudy E. Renfer, Assistant United States
Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina,
for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Equan Cornelius Dunston appeals the district court’s order denying his motion for
compassionate release pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). Having reviewed the record,
we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in ruling that the pertinent 18
U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors weighed against compassionate release. See United
States v. High, 997 F.3d 181, 185 (4th Cir. 2021) (stating standard of review). Accordingly,
we affirm.∗ We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
AFFIRMED
∗ The district court also denied Dunston’s motion for a sentence reduction under
§ 404 of the First Step Act. But Dunston has waived review of that decision because he
does not raise a challenge in his informal brief. See 4th Cir. R. 34(b); Jackson v. Lightsey,
775 F.3d 170, 177 (4th Cir. 2014) (“The informal brief is an important document; under
Fourth Circuit rules, our review is limited to issues preserved in that brief.”).

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