United States v. Ferguson, No. 16-3979 (7th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseWhen Ferguson was 17 years old he shot a woman three times during a carjacking, causing significant permanent injury. He was apprehended after a high-speed chase. Ferguson pleaded guilty to vehicular robbery by force and discharging a gun. The sentencing guidelines range was 198 to 217 months’ imprisonment but the district judge sentenced Ferguson to 600 months in prison (50 years). The Seventh Circuit vacated his sentence and remanded. A new judge imposed a 35‐year sentence. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting Ferguson’s argument that the district court failed to adequately consider his youth as a mitigating factor and to properly explain the above‐guidelines sentence. The judge expressly weighed the relevant factors and repeatedly emphasized that the guidelines did not adequately capture the seriousness of the offense, which was most comparable to attempted murder.
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