Sentencing — armed career criminals

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Criminal

Sentencing — armed career criminals

A Wisconsin felony for which the term of initial confinement is less than ten years is not a serious drug offense for calculating whether a defendant is an armed career criminal.

“The normal legal understanding of ‘maximum term’ is the highest sentence a judge can mete out to anyone for a particular crime. To the extent that there is ambiguity in the text and structure of §924(e), the Rule of Lenity calls for us to read the federal statute favorably to the accused. Skilling v. United States, 130 S. Ct. 2896, 2932 (2010); Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc., 537 U.S. 393, 409 (2003). The highest custodial sentence a judge in Wisconsin was authorized to impose on Spencer for his Class F felony was 7½ years. This is the ‘maximum term’ as §924(e) uses that phrase. The upshot is that Spencer has only two qualifying predicate convictions and may not be sentenced as an armed career criminal.”

Vacated and Remanded.

13-2622 U.S. v. Spencer

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Easterbrook, J.