United States v. Lamon

Sentencing judges ordinarily “group” counts of conviction when they involve “substantially the same harm,” U.S.S.G. 3D1.2. In 2014, the Seventh Circuit ruled (Sinclair) that when facing a particular combination of counts—the same combination in this case—a judge may not group them. Lamon pleaded guilty to: possessing cocaine with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1); possessing a firearm in furtherance of that crime, 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(1)(A); and possessing a firearm as a felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). Following Sinclair, the judge did not group Lamon’s drug‐trafficking conviction and felon‐in‐possession conviction; calculated guidelines ranges of 30-37 months for the section 841(a) and 922(g) counts, based on a total offense level of 17 and Lamon’s criminal history category of III; and sentenced Lamon to below‐guidelines concurrent terms of 24 months’ imprisonment on each of those counts, followed by the statutory minimum consecutive term of five years for the section 924(c) count, resulting in a total sentence of 84 months. Had the judge grouped the counts, Lamon’s total offense level would have been 15, resulting in a guidelines range of 24-30 months for each charge. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, declining to overrule Sinclair. In these circumstances, the felon‐in‐possession count has no impact on the guideline range for the underlying drug count, eliminating the rationale for grouping. View "United States v. Lamon" on Justia Law