United States of America v. Sunni Askari Newell

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 24-1201
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee
v.
Sunni Askari Newell
lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Northern District of Iowa - Eastern
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Submitted: January 13, 2025
Filed: January 28, 2025
[Unpublished]
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Before LOKEN, ARNOLD, and KELLY, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
After being convicted of possessing a firearm as a person convicted of
domestic violence, see 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(9), 924(a)(2), Sunni Askari Newell
violated the conditions of his second term of supervised release by, among other

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things, assaulting his girlfriend. The district court1 described Newell as "incorrigible"
and "a danger to the community" and sentenced him to 24 months in prison, which
was longer than the sentence of 8–14 months that the Guidelines recommended.
Newell maintains on appeal that the district court "gave excessive and improper
weight" to the assault, resulting in an unreasonable sentence.
We disagree. We find no fault in district court's viewing the assault as "an
extreme abuse of trust" to be considered "very seriously," particularly in light of his
previous conviction for domestic violence. We note as well that other relevant
considerations played a significant role in the court's sentencing decision. For
example, the court observed that the 14-month prison sentence it imposed the first
time it revoked Newell's supervision had "had no impact" on him, as he started
violating his release conditions again only a few days after serving that sentence. And
as the district court noted, Newell "has a long history of violence and firearms
violations" and "has not performed well under supervision." In short, this is not "the
unusual case when we reverse a district court sentence—whether within, above, or
below the applicable Guidelines range—as substantively unreasonable." See United
States v. Evans, 63 F.4th 1157, 1160 (8th Cir. 2023).
Affirmed.
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1The Honorable C.J. Williams, United States District Judge, now Chief Judge,
for the Northern District of Iowa.
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