Case Explained: Non-Argument Calendar UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JERELLE JONES

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-07-23 Docket: 4:25-cr-00001-AW-MAF-1 The eleventh-circuit affirmed Jerelle Jones’s sentence of 114 months of imprisonment for bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and forgery. The court held that any procedural error regarding the district court’s calculation of the loss amount or failure to apply a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility was harmless because the district court explicitly stated it would have imposed the same sentence regardless of the guideline range. Applying the standard of review established in *United States v. Grushko* and *United States v. Keene*, the court assumed an error existed, reduced the guideline range as argued by Jones, and determined the sentence remained substantively reasonable under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). The court found the sentence was sufficient to reflect the seriousness of the offense, deter criminal conduct, and protect the public, noting it was well below the statutory maximum. Consequently, the judgment is affirmed and no remand is required. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.