United States v. Vasquez, No. 10-50336 (9th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in connection with his membership in the Mongols Motorcycle Club, a motorcycle gang. On appeal, defendant challenged his convictions and sentence. The court held that the search warrant was valid and did not consider whether the officers acted in good faith in relying on it. Therefore, the evidence of the guns and ammunition could not be suppressed because the warrant was invalid. The court also held that there was sufficient evidence for a trier of fact to concluded that defendant constructively possessed the firearms. The court further held that the judge exercised sound discretion to ensure the punishment fit the crime by weighing the seriousness of the offense with all the mitigating factors and sentencing defendant to a significantly below-Guidelines term of imprisonment. Therefore, the sentence was reasonable.
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