United States v. Grimes, No. 15-3309 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his conviction and sentence for possessing an unregistered firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court concluded that the government presented sufficient evidence to permit the jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant knowingly possessed firearms and knew the machine gun was a machine gun and an automatic firearm. The court also concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in applying a four-level enhancement under USSG 2K2.1(b)(4)(B) where the firearm at issue had an obliterated serial number, even though defendant was acquitted of possessing a firearm with a serial number removed. The enhancement applied regardless of whether defendant knew or had reason to believe that the firearm had been altered or obliterated. Finally, the sentence was not substantively unreasonable and the district court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing defendant to 92 months in prison, a sentence within and at the bottom of the guideline range. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Bough, Author, with Colloton and Gruender, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. Evidence was sufficient to support defendant's convictions for possessing an unregistered firearm and for being a felon in possession of a firearm; the district court did not err in imposing a four-level enhancement under Guidelines Sec. 2K2.1(b)(4)(B) for possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number even though defendant was acquitted on a related count, as the enhancement, unlike the relevant statute, does not required knowledge of the obliteration; bottom-of-the-guidelines sentence was not substantively unreasonable.
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