United States v. Hopper, No. 20-1162 (7th Cir. 2021)
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Hopper was convicted of conspiracy to distribute 50 or more grams of a mixture containing methamphetamine, 21 U.S.C. 841(a), 846, and 841(b)(1)(B). The court sentenced Hopper to 235 months’ imprisonment. The Seventh Circuit concluded that the district court had committed plain error in the calculation of the drug quantity for which Hopper was responsible. The district court ordered a revised presentence report, which reduced to 1.17 kilograms the amount of “ice” methamphetamine for which Hopper was responsible and assessed an additional criminal history point for a state burglary conviction, the plea for which was entered after the original federal sentencing but before the remand. Hopper submitted a pro se objection, arguing that a jury, not the court, should make the determination that the drugs at issue qualified as “ice” under the Sentencing Guidelines. He did not object to the additional criminal history point. The court rejected his challenge, reasoning that the issue of drug type, as opposed to drug quantity, already had been decided in the first appeal. The court reimposed a sentence of 235 months’ imprisonment.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting Hopper’s arguments that the district court committed plain error in both the determination of the drug type and in the assessment of the additional criminal history point for the state burglary conviction. The earlier remand order did not permit reconsideration of Hopper’s argument about the drug type.
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