Steven Cowan v. United States, No. 16-3085 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseCourt Description: Per Curiam - Before Colloton, Bowman and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Prisoner case - Habeas. Cowan's sentence was calculated under the advisory guidelines, which are not subject to a void-for-vagueness challenge, and the district court did not err in rejecting his Johnson claim.
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United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 16-3085 ___________________________ Steven S. Cowan lllllllllllllllllllllMovant - Appellant v. United States of America lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent - Appellee ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City ____________ Submitted: October 12, 2017 Filed: October 17, 2017 [Unpublished] ____________ Before COLLOTON, BOWMAN, and KELLY, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. Federal prisoner Steven Cowan, who pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, appeals the district court’s1 order denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion 1 The Honorable Greg Kays, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. that challenged his sentence under Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015) (invalidating residual clause of Armed Career Criminal Act as unconstitutionally vague); Cowan specifically challenged his increased base offense level under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1. Upon de novo review, we find that the district court properly denied relief, because Cowan’s sentence was calculated under the advisory Guidelines, which are not subject to void-for-vagueness challenges. See Beckles v. United States, 137 S. Ct. 886, 895 (2017). Accordingly, we affirm. We also grant counsel’s motion to withdraw. ______________________________ -2-
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