Sentencing — merger

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Criminal

Sentencing — merger

It was error to impose consecutive sentences on a defendant convicted of both felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense, based on the same incident.

“Bloch’s two convictions are therefore multiplicitous and must be merged. The convictions arose from the same incident of firearm possession, and the only difference between them is the disqualified class to which Bloch belonged. That Bloch possessed two firearms does not affect this conclusion. The proper remedy for the multiplicity error is merger; one conviction must be vacated and merged into the other. Parker, 508 F.3d at 441-42. Once the convictions are merged, the statutory maximum is 120 months. See 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2). Because Bloch’s sentence exceeds that maximum, he must be resentenced. We commend the government for raising the error.”

Vacated and Remanded.

12-2784 U.S. v. Bloch

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Miller, J., Sykes, J.