Sentencing

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Kevin A. Hoffman

Case No.: 16-1595

Officials: RIPPLE, MANION, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sentencing

For conduct arising out of one day’s sexual abuse, Kevin Hoffman was convicted after a two‐day federal jury trial of one count of exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography in interstate commerce, and faced a sentence of up to thirty years in prison. While his sentence was pending, he was convicted in state court of sexual abuse of the same child over a period of eighteen months, and faced a sentence of up to fifty years in state prison. This case involves the discretion of a federal district court judge under U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3 to impose a concurrent or consecutive sentence, or to decline to impose either, when a subsequent state sentence for relevant conduct is anticipated. Hoffman argues that the plain language of the Sentencing Guidelines requires a district judge to impose a concurrent sentence in such a situation. Because the Guidelines are advisory, and because U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3 is inapplicable in this case, we affirm the decision below.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.