United States v. Purham, No. 14-3424 (7th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CasePurham pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute 280 grams or more of crack cocaine, 21 U.S.C. 841, 846. Purham agreed to the quantity and acknowledged the 20-year mandatory minimum sentence. The court denied Purham’s subsequent request to withdraw his plea and sentenced Purham to 360 months’ imprisonment. The Seventh Circuit held that the court erred in counting 2008 drug transactions as “relevant conduct” absent evidence establishing a link between that conduct and later distribution activity. Recalculating the sentence, the court added: two levels because Purham had a coconspirator purchase a firearm for him; two levels because conspiracy members threatened witnesses; two levels because he employed multiple residences for the sole purpose of distributing crack cocaine; and four levels because Purham acted as the conspiracy’s manager. It subtracted two levels for the “Drugs Minus Two” amendment. Purham’s guidelines range was 360 months to life in prison. The court noted the disparity between crack and powder cocaine, sentenced Purham to 324 months, and imposed special conditions of supervised release, that Purham not associate with any member of any street gang, “not wear or carry on your person colors or any sign, symbol, or paraphernalia associated with gang activity. Only gang tattoos received prior to incarceration are not considered a violation,” and “If you’re unemployed … perform at least 20 hours of community service work per week.” The Seventh Circuit affirmed the term of imprisonment, but vacated the community-service and gang-association conditions.
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