The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Preacely, 628 F.3d 72 (2nd Cir. 2010):
We must first determine whether the district court complied with the procedural requirements of the Sentencing Reform Act. Id. at 189-90; 18 U.S.C. 3551 et seq., 28 U.S.C. 991 et seq. The district court should ordinarily "begin all sentencing proceedings by correctly calculating the applicable Guidelines range," Gall, 552 U.S. at 49, 128 S.Ct. 586, and then consider the factors listed in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a). A district court commits procedural error, among other things, by failing to calculate the Guidelines range or by making a mistake in its Guidelines calculation; by treating the Guidelines as mandatory; by failing to consider the section 3553(a) factors; or by resting its sentence on a clearly erroneous finding of fact. Cavera, 550 F.3d at 190. "Moreover, a district court errs if it fails adequately to explain its chosen sentence, and must include an explanation for any deviation from the Guidelines range." Id. (internal citations and quotation marks omitted); see also Rita v. United States, 551 U.S. 338, 339, 127 S.Ct. 2456, 168 L.Ed.2d 203 (2007).
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