United States v. Nelson, No. 18-2811 (7th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseNelson pleaded guilty to drug crimes and was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment and supervised release. After his release, Nelson was arrested for another drug crime. The court revoked Nelson’s release and sentenced him to imprisonment and additional supervised release. During his second term of supervised release, Nelson’s parole officer filed a revocation petition based on allegations that he had committed aggravated battery and drug crimes. At an initial hearing, the judge determined that defense counsel had discussed the petition with Nelson and that Nelson understood it. At the final hearing, the parties agreed to a 41-month sentence (below the guideline range) in exchange for Nelson’s waiver of a contested hearing. The judge informed Nelson that his stipulation could not be conditioned on the court’s acceptance of that sentence. Nelson responded: “Just go on.” After an exchange, Nelson's lawyer and Nelson assured the court that Nelson understood and did not “want to fight .” Nelson entered his stipulation. The judge questioned Nelson about the voluntariness of his stipulation. Nelson responded that he had “no say in nothing” but that he was “okay with stipulating” and that he had violated the conditions “just by being arrested.” The judge accepted the stipulation, stating, “just being arrested isn’t enough” and explained the stipulation. Nelson stated that he understood. The court rejected the recommendation and sentenced Nelson to 60 months, the statutory maximum, explaining that it was unpersuaded that avoiding a hearing justified a reduced sentence and concerns about Nelson’s criminal history. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding Nelson’s waiver knowing and voluntary.
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