Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Sufficiency of Evidence – Sentence Enhancement

By: Derek Hawkins//January 16, 2017//

Sufficiency of Evidence – Sentence Enhancement

By: Derek Hawkins//January 16, 2017//

Listen to this article

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Melvin R. Thomas

Case No.: 15-2691

Officials: POSNER, RIPPLE, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges

Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence – Sentence Enhancement

Melvin Thomas was indicted by a grand jury on one count of conspiracy to possess, with intent to distribute, a mixture or substance containing heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846; and two counts of possessing, with intent to distribute, a mixture or substance containing heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). He pleaded not guilty, and the case proceeded to trial. At the end of the Government’s case, Mr. Thomas moved for a judgment of acquittal. The district court denied the motion. A jury later found Mr. Thomas guilty of the charged offenses, and the court subsequently sentenced him to 216 months’ imprisonment. Mr. Thomas timely appealed. He now challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conspiracy conviction. He also maintains that the district court erred in imposing a sentencing enhancement for maintaining a drug house. We conclude that there is sufficient evidence to sustain the conspiracy charge and that the evidence supports the district court’s imposition of the sentencing enhancement. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

Affirmed

Full Text


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.

Polls

Should Steven Avery be granted a new evidentiary hearing?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Legal News

See All Legal News

WLJ People

Sea all WLJ People

Opinion Digests