USA v. Aron, No. 22-2364 (7th Cir. 2024)
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Bryant D. Aron was indicted by a grand jury for possession of a firearm and ammunition as a felon, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Initially, Aron agreed to plead guilty under a binding plea agreement, which recommended a sentence of 96 months' imprisonment. However, the district court refused to accept this sentencing recommendation. As the plea agreement was binding, Aron was given the option to withdraw his guilty plea, which he did. Instead of negotiating a different plea agreement, Aron chose to proceed to trial. He was convicted by a jury and sentenced to the statutory maximum of 120 months' imprisonment.
The district court's refusal to accept the sentencing recommendation in the plea agreement led to Aron's decision to withdraw his guilty plea and proceed to trial. After his conviction and sentencing, Aron appealed, raising several challenges to the indictment and the plea and sentencing process. He argued that the indictment failed to include a known and necessary element, that he had good cause for not raising this objection in the district court, and that the deficiency in the indictment was either structural error or met the plain error standard.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit rejected Aron's arguments. The court found that the indictment was not defective and that Aron had failed to raise his objection in a timely manner. The court also found that Aron had not demonstrated good cause for his failure to raise the objection pretrial. Therefore, the court did not conduct a plain error review of his claim.
Aron also challenged the district court's rejection of his binding plea agreement. He argued that the court had improperly inserted itself into the plea negotiation process, failed to provide a sound reason for rejecting the plea agreement, and did not provide enough notice of its rejection of the plea agreement. The Court of Appeals rejected these arguments as well, affirming the decision of the district court.
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