Eleventh Circuit affirms above-guideline sentence

Continuing a busy Booker day in the circuits, the Eleventh Circuit today in US v. Valnor, No. 05-15701 (11th Cir. June 6, 2006) (available here), affirms an above-guideline sentence as reasonable.  Here is the money paragraph at the end of the opinion:

Although Valnor disagrees with the district court's assessment of several of the § 3553(a) factors, on this record, we cannot say that the district court's careful consideration of the § 3553(a) factors, as they pertained to Valnor's sentencing calculus, was unreasonable.  The district court properly fulfilled its role in considering the Guidelines, but found the Guidelines range to be inadequate to accomplish the statutory goals of providing adequate deterrence and protecting the public from further crimes. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court's 28- month sentence was reasonable.