United States v. Major, No. 20-2829 (7th Cir. 2022)
Annotate this Case
Major pleaded guilty without the benefit of a plea agreement to three charges stemming from his activities dealing heroin and fentanyl. Major was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment. On appeal, he argued that the district court’s factual findings were erroneous and caused it to calculate an incorrect Sentencing Guidelines range and that his designation as a “career offender” overstated his past criminal conduct.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting challenges to the district court’s findings that Major sold the drugs that caused a death, that he had obstructed justice by trying to influence a co-defendant’s testimony, and that he had not accepted responsibility. Major was convicted of two prior offenses that qualify him for the career offender designation: a previous felony drug conviction and a conviction for aggravated kidnapping in 1993. The court did not abuse its discretion by sentencing Major as a career offender and imposing a Guidelines sentence of 240 months in prison.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.