Fourth Circuit affirms life sentence for perjury and obstruction

The Fourth Circuit today in US v. Ruhbayan , No. 05-5166 (4th Cir. Aug. 3, 2007) (available here), affirms a life sentence for perjury and obstrcution of justice over an array of sentence objections.  Here is how the opinion begins:

Rajul Ruhbayan takes this appeal from his 2005 sentence of life imprisonment and three concurrent sixty-month prison terms.  See United States v. Ruhbayan, 427 F. Supp. 2d 640 (E.D. Va. 2006). The sentence resulted from Ruhbayan’s convictions in the Eastern District of Virginia on four offenses arising from a perjury and obstruction of justice scheme. On appeal, Ruhbayan contends that the district court erred in four respects: (1) by enhancing his sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 1512(j), thereby increasing his prison exposure from ten years to life, in violation of the Sixth Amendment; (2) by applying United States v. Booker in contravention of the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Fifth Amendment; (3) by miscalculating his sentencing range under the Sentencing Guidelines (the “guidelines”); and (4) by failing to properly consider the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing factors.  As explained below, we reject these contentions and affirm.