United States v. Napolitan, No. 15-1602 (3d Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseNapolitan was arrested in 2007 after police discovered nearly a kilogram of cocaine, drug trafficking paraphernalia, and firearms in his Farrell, Pennsylvania home. In 2008, based on facts uncovered as part of the drug bust, Napolitan was convicted of sexual assault and simple assault and was sentenced under 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. 9712, which increased the mandatory minimum sentence for a “crime of violence” when the judge determined by a preponderance of the evidence that the perpetrator possessed a firearm that was used to frighten the victim. The Pennsylvania Superior Court has since ruled that the statute is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s 2013 holding (Alleyne) that whenever the existence of a fact increases a statutory minimum sentence as a matter of law, that fact is an “element” of the underlying crime that must be proven to the fact-finder beyond a reasonable doubt, In 2011, based on the 2007 drug bust, Napolitan was charged possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1); (b)(1)(B)(ii), and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(1)(A)(i). On remand, the court applied a sentencing enhancement and imposed a 90-month sentence for the drug conviction, consecutive to Napolitan’s state sentence because the state and federal crimes were distinct. The Third Circuit affirmed, holding that a defendant may not challenge the reasonableness of his federal sentence on appeal via a collateral attack on a prior state sentence.
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