United States v. Perry, No. 16-1635 (7th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePerry bought shotgun shells at a Wal‐Mart. Hours later, police were dispatched to a restaurant, where Perry was arguing with his ex‐girlfriend, Tice. The officers asked Perry to leave. Perry complied, but returned, confronted Tice in the parking lot, and shot her to death in front of their son and Tice’s mother. The police quickly arrested Perry and found the murder weapon and ammunition in his truck. Petty was convicted of murder in state court. In federal court, Perry pleaded guilty to two counts under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), as a felon in possession of a firearm and of ammunition. The court found that Perry qualified for an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e), because he had three prior “violent felony” convictions: two for burglary in Indiana, and one for battery resulting in serious bodily injury. Perry argued at sentencing that the two felon-in-possession counts were identical and should merge so that the sentences would run concurrently. Without explicitly addressing that argument, the court imposed a 360‐month sentence on each count, to run concurrently to each other and to the state sentence. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. Perry’s two burglary convictions were valid ACCA predicate offenses. The two section 922(g)(1) counts were not multiplicitous; the evidence showed that the gun and ammunition were acquired separately.
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