United States v. Maxwell, No. 15-2799 (7th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseMaxwell, was convicted of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of a substance containing a cocaine base, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1). The Seventh Circuit affirmed his conviction, but remanded twice for resentencing in light of recent Supreme Court opinions. On second remand, the court had acknowledged that Maxwell’s prior Minnesota conviction for fleeing from an officer no longer constituted a “crime of violence” under the Sentencing Guidelines for purposes of the career offender enhancement. Maxwell also argued that his prior conviction for simple robbery was not a crime of violence. The court responded: "I didn’t feel bound by the career offender guideline. I arrived at a sentence based on the factors of Section 3553(a) of Title 18 … . I did consider the career offender guidelines ... but I have not relied upon those guidelines in arriving at the sentence here. And so whether or not simple robbery is an appropriate consideration or not, I am comfortable with the sentence that has been imposed independent of those guidelines. The court again sentenced Maxwell to 120 months’ imprisonment. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, stating that even if the court had relied on the career offender guideline, the Minnesota statute for simple robbery is not broader than U.S.S.G. 4B1.2(a)(1).
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