United States v. Childs, No. 21-3206 (7th Cir. 2022)
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Childs pled guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon and was sentenced to 37 months’ imprisonment, followed by 24 months of supervised release. While serving supervised release, Childs, who is addicted to alcohol and controlled substances, had numerous violations: resisting a peace officer, two charges of reckless driving, DUI, other traffic offenses, possession of marijuana, retail theft, and use of alcohol. The court revoked his supervised release and sentenced Childs to 14 months of imprisonment, followed by 36 months of supervised release. During his second term of supervised release, Childs again committed multiple violations and overdosed on controlled substances.
The government argued that Childs was a danger to himself and others. Childs’ lawyer noted that Childs had accepted responsibility and argued that a short sentence would allow Childs to “get on with” the steps needed to overcome his addictions. The court remarked on Childs’ significant criminal history, dangerous conduct, and the many opportunities he had been given for treatment, then focused on deterrence and the need to protect the public, sentencing Childs to 24 months’ imprisonment with no further supervised release. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The court considered the facts of Childs’ violations, his criminal history, the relevant section 3553(a) factors, and the policy statements, and said enough about the reasons for the sentence to provide an adequate basis for review. The sentence was not plainly unreasonable.
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