United States v. LeFlore

LeFlore traded drugs to minors in exchange for guns— one of which he sold to a confidential informant. He pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g), and was sentenced to 96 months in prison, the top of a 77-96 month Sentencing Guidelines range. The Seventh Circuit dismissed his appeal and granted his attorney’s motion to withdraw. The judge did err in calculating his criminal history points. Sentences that are “imposed on the same day” are treated as one when scoring a defendant’s criminal history unless there was an intervening arrest, U.S.S.G. 4A1.2(a)(2), but any challenge based on the miscalculation would be frivolous because the error was harmless. Under the correct calculation, LeFlore would remain in the same criminal history category and the same Guidelines range would apply. The criminal history points and category actually underrepresented LeFlore’s criminality. The court reasonably categorized LeFlore’s prior Illinois convictions for second-degree murder and domestic battery as crimes of violence and appropriately considered the section 3553(a) factors, including LeFlore’s “32-year crime spree.” The court did not err in not specifically addressing LeFlore’s argument that his history of alcohol and drug use were mitigating factors. View "United States v. LeFlore" on Justia Law