United States v. Cureton

While Cureton was under investigation for dealing crack cocaine, he used a gun to demand ransom for his roommate; her grandfather agreed by telephone to wire Cureton $4,500. A jury convicted Cureton of interstate communication of a ransom demand, attempted extortion (guidelines range, 240 months, the statutory maximum), and two counts of possessing a firearm during a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. 924(c) (ransom demand and attempted extortion). Cureton's drug possession case had a guideline range of 360-720 months. In a third appeal, following re-imposition of a 444‐month sentence, the Seventh Circuit held that the ransom demand qualified as a “crime of violence.” The Supreme Court remanded for reconsideration in light of its 2017 “Dean” holding, regarding consideration of section 924(c)'s mandatory minimum sentence when imposing sentences for other crimes. The Seventh Circuit noted that each of Cureton's sentencings has included the statutory maximum 240 months for the ransom demand, signaling that the judges were not inclined to reduce the sentence for that predicate crime; the 360 months of non‐924(c) sentences take into account several very serious crimes. No judge gave any sign that he believed that the reduced total sentence of 444 months was too severe. The Seventh Circuit ordered a limited remand so that the district court can determine whether it would have imposed the same sentence, knowing that under Dean, it may consider the mandatory sentence under section 924(c) when deciding the sentences for other crimes. View "United States v. Cureton" on Justia Law