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Sentencing

By: Derek Hawkins//June 5, 2017//

Sentencing

By: Derek Hawkins//June 5, 2017//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Ayiko L. Paulette

Case No.: 16-1099

Officials: POSNER, SYKES, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sentencing

Ayiko Paulette helped found the Waverly Crips street gang in East St. Louis, Illinois, during the late 1980s and early 1990s. By 2012 he and the gang were trafficking large amounts of drugs in the area. Before his luck ran out in 2014, Paulette was leading the gang and managing its drug trade. He even controlled the sale of illegal drugs in nearby Washington Park, Illinois, and had many people working for him. Things unraveled, though, after Paulette sold 105 grams of cocaine to an informant during two con‐ trolled buys in May 2014. Two months later, authorities were waiting when Paulette and eight travel companions got off a train in St. Louis. They were returning from a supply run to Texas. Seven of them were carrying a total of 2.4 kilograms of cocaine in packages concealed under their clothing. Paulette eventually pled guilty to eight counts related to drug trafficking and was sentenced to a total of 300 months in prison. He appeals that sentence, focusing on the count charging him with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1). Paulette disputes the scope of the conspiracy and argues that the district court, in calculating his imprisonment range under the Sentencing Guidelines, wrongly counted certain years of drug dealing as relevant conduct under U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3. We affirm his sentence

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.

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