United States v. Burnett, No. 10-3664 (7th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant, convicted five times of felonies--murder, attempted murder (twice), aggravated battery, and domestic battery--and several times of other offenses, including unlawfully possessing firearms, participated in a shoot-out in 2009 and was prosecuted for unlawful possession of a firearm. The district court declined to sentence him as an armed career criminal under 18 U.S.C. 922(g), which carries a 15-year minimum term, reasoning that four of the five convictions could not count. When defendant's parole on murder and aggravated battery convictions expired, officials sent him a letter saying that his civil rights to vote and hold office had been restored automatically. The letter did not state that Illinois does not restore the right to possess firearms. The Seventh Circuit remanded, holding that the defendant had three countable felonies. The letter's inclusion of a date on which parole ended ties the letter to a single sentence and implies that rights have been restored only with respect to convictions underlying that sentence. Defendant did not receive such letters for other convictions.
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