United States v. Shelton, No. 17-3084 (7th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseEight men stole 104 new Ruger firearms, in original packaging, from a cargo train parked in a Chicago rail yard. The men divided the stolen firearms among themselves and sold them on the black market. Most of the guns have not been recovered, but at least 17 have been recovered from crime scenes. The men were charged with possession of a firearm after being convicted of a felony, 18 U.S.C. 922(g); possession of a stolen firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(j); and cargo theft, 18 U.S.C. 659. Shelton pleaded guilty to Counts One and Two. Lewis pleaded guilty to Counts One and Three. Edwards pleaded guilty to Counts One and Two. Walker pleaded guilty to Counts One and Three. All four challenged their sentences, arguing that the court improperly imposed multiple offense-level enhancements under U.S.S.G. 2K2.1 (stolen firearm, trafficking, and other felony offense enhancements) in violation of double counting principles. Shelton challenged the application of three criminal history points for a prior burglary conviction. The Seventh Circuit rejected the arguments and affirmed their below-Guidelines terms of 132 months, 180 months, 120 months, and 150 months, each with three years of supervised release. Any error in calculating Shelton’s criminal history score was harmless, given the below-Guidelines sentence.
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