Van Sach v. United States, No. 17-1824 (7th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseThe Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(1), provides for an enhanced sentence for an ex-felon who possesses a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g), if that person has “three previous convictions … for a violent felony or a serious drug offense, or both … .” ACCA defines a “violent felony” to include a federal or state crime punishable by more than a year’s imprisonment that “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.” In 2019, the Supreme Court decided in "Stokeling," that a prior conviction could qualify if the statute of conviction requires “force capable of causing physical pain or injury.” In six cases, the Seventh Circuit previously concluded that the ACCA enhancement applied, On remand, for reconsideration in light of Stokeling, the Seventh Circuit examined Illinois statutes prohibiting robbery and armed robbery, 720 ILCS 5/18-1(a), 5/18-2, which provide that a person commits robbery when he takes property “from the person or presence of another by the use of force or by threatening the imminent use of force,” and again concluded that the defendants qualified for the enhancement. Illinois cases require that force be used as part of the action of taking or immediately leaving the scene. This can reasonably be characterized as force necessary to overcome the victim’s resistance, and is compatible with Stokeling’s definition of force.
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