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CHARLES THORNTON,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS SUPPLEMENTAL RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY FUND, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.


No. 08-5283

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Kentucky at Louisville.
No. 07-00118—Charles R. Simpson III, District Judge.
Argued: March 6, 2009
Decided and Filed: May 14, 2009
Before: KEITH, SUTTON, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges.

_________________________
OPINION
_________________________

DAMON J. KEITH, Circuit Judge. Plaintiff-Appellant Charles Thornton challenges on appeal the district court’s award of summary judgment in favor of Defendant-Appellees Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Supplemental Retirement and Disability Fund and its Board of Trustees regarding claims Thornton raised under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Thornton argues: (1) Defendants violated the ERISA anti-cutback rule by rescinding an increase of retirement benefits, which was introduced after he had retired; (2) the Board violated its fiduciary duty under ERISA by passing the amendment, which rescinded the increase; and (3) the district court abused its discretion in denying his Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(f) motion for discovery. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Defendants on both substantive claims and AFFIRM its decision to deny Thornton’s motion for discovery.


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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
LEE HENRY BERRY,
Defendant-Appellant.


No. 08-1048

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan at Bay City.
No. 05-20048-001—Thomas L. Ludington, District Judge.
Argued: March 12, 2009
Decided and Filed: May 14, 2009
Before: MARTIN and GILMAN, Circuit Judges; ZOUHARY, District Judge.

_________________________
OPINION
_________________________

JACK ZOUHARY, District Judge. Defendant Lee Henry Berry appeals his convictions and sentencing in the district court. A jury convicted Berry on three counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Prior to trial, Berry moved to suppress some of the evidence against him, arguing the evidence was seized pursuant to an invalid search warrant. The district court denied the motion. A jury convicted Berry, and the district court sentenced him to 360 months of imprisonment, to run consecutive to his term of imprisonment for violating the terms of his probation related to a state offense. Berry argues on appeal that the district court committed reversible errors when it denied his motion to suppress and when it sentenced him. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM.


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YINGGUI LIN,
Petitioner,
v.
ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., United States Attorney General,
Respondent.


No. 08-3573

On Petition for Review from a Final Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals.
No. A98 354 937.
Submitted: March 13, 2009
Decided and Filed: May 14, 2009
Before: MARTIN and GILMAN, Circuit Judges; ZOUHARY, District Judge.

_________________________
OPINION
_________________________

JACK ZOUHARY, District Judge. Petitioner Yinggui Lin (Lin) is a Falun Gong practitioner who allegedly fled from persecution in China, including a Chinese police raid on his gaming business which resulted in the confiscation of equipment. Lin entered the United States illegally in September 2004 near Roma, Texas. That same month, the Department of Homeland Security served Lin with a Notice to Appear, alleging he was removable as an alien. Lin was granted a change of venue to Cleveland, Ohio in March 2005. In August 2005, Lin filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).

The immigration judge denied Lin’s application at a merits hearing in August 2006. The denial was affirmed in April 2008 by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Lin filed this appeal in May 2008. He argues the BIA erred in upholding the immigration judge’s finding that Lin failed to provide corroborating evidence of the circumstances supporting his request for asylum. Lin also argues the immigration judge erred in failing to find a nexus between his Falun Gong activities and the Chinese police’s confiscation of his gaming equipment, and to properly review the State Department Human Rights Report on discrimination against Falun Gong practitioners in China. Finally, Lin argues his due process rights were violated when the immigration judge did not properly mark Exhibit 2 (his application for asylum with supporting documentation) into the record.

For the reasons set forth below, we DENY the petition on all grounds.


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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
TONY BARAHONA-MONTENEGRO,
Defendant-Appellant.


No. 08-1345

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids.
No. 07-00198-001—Robert Holmes Bell, District Judge.
Argued: April 24, 2009
Decided and Filed: May 14, 2009
Before: MOORE and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges; FORESTER, District Judge.

_________________________
OPINION
_________________________

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Defendant-Appellant Tony Barahona-Montenegro pleaded guilty to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. The Presentence Report (“PSR”) concluded that Barahona-Montenegro’s Sentencing Guidelines range was 37 to 46 months of incarceration based on a total offense level of 17 and a criminal history category of IV. Barahona-Montenegro objected to the PSR, arguing that his criminal history category had been miscalculated and that he should be in criminal history category III, making his Guidelines range 30 to 37 months of incarceration. The district court sentenced Barahona-Montenegro to 48 months of incarceration. The district court’s oral sentencing opinion did not resolve clearly the issue of criminal history category. At the sentencing hearing, the district court noted that this was a serious offense and that Barahona-Montenegro had five children out of wedlock whom he was not supporting. In a written judgment issued nearly two months after the sentencing hearing, the district court stated that Barahona-Montenegro’s criminal history category was III but that the district court had departed upward based on U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3 because it concluded that this category underrepresented Barahona-Montenegro’s criminal history. Barahona-Montenegro appeals his sentence as procedurally and substantively unreasonable.

We VACATE Barahona-Montenegro’s sentence as procedurally unreasonable and REMAND for resentencing.