United States v. Hamad, No. 14-3813 (7th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseHamad owned a Chicago convenience store that store sold cigarettes. The county taxes and regulates the sale of cigarettes and employs inspectors to enforce its ordinance. Hamad’s store was on a list of prior violators. Inspectors made an undercover purchase of a pack of cigarettes for $6. The typical price of a properly-taxed pack of cigarettes in Chicago was $8 or $9. Inspectors determined that the pack did not bear the required county tax stamp. The inspectors entered the store and identified themselves, entered the area behind the counter to examine the cigarette inventory. On the floor behind the counter, they found a plastic bag that contained prescription bottles, loose pills, and a large, clear candy jar full of white pills. They believed that some were Vicodin, a narcotic painkiller. Inspectors felt and lifted a loose floorboard and found a shoebox, containing magazines for a gun. Under a pile of t-shirts on a shelf, inspectors found a velvet bag, realized it contained a gun, and called the police. The Seventh Circuit affirmed Hamad’s conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), upholding denial of his motion to suppress the firearm and his incriminating statement regarding the firearm.
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