United States v. Black, No. 15-3111 (10th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseIn 2012, James Black was convicted by jury of conspiring to distributing cocaine, using a telephone in committing or in causing the facility, and possessing with intent to distribute. The convictions stemmed from charges made in the government’s Fifth Superseding Indictment in a longstanding, multi-defendant case that began in November 2007. Between the First Superseding Indictment (in which Black was first charged) and the jury trial, the government filed another four superseding indictments and twice dismissed the case: once to pursue an interlocutory appeal and once to avoid dismissal of the cocaine-conspiracy charge. After the jury’s verdict, the district court sentenced Black to 30 years’ imprisonment. Black appealed, arguing that the district court plainly erred in calculating the United States Sentencing Guidelines advisory range at 360 months’ imprisonment to life. Black also argued that the government’s 23-month delay in bringing him to trial, together with the delay between the filing of the second-to-last indictment and Black’s trial, denied him his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. After review, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the government didn’t violate Black’s constitutional right to a speedy trial. But because the Court concluded that the district court plainly erred in calculating Black’s advisory Guidelines range, Black’s sentence was vacated and the case remanded for resentencing.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.