Sentencing – Statute Interpretation

By: Derek Hawkins//April 4, 2018//

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Ernest D. Shields v. United States of America

Case No.: 17-1929

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and BAUER and BARRETT, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sentencing – Statute Interpretation

In this appeal of a denial of a petition for review under 18 U.S.C. § 2255, Ernest Shields argues that he should not have been sentenced as an armed career criminal because two of his Illinois convictions—one for residential burglary and another for armed robbery—cannot be characterized as violent felonies under the Armed Career Criminal Act, see 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). Our recent precedent forecloses the argument about his residential burglary conviction, and we conclude that armed robbery in Illinois is a violent felony because it requires “force or threatened use of force.” We therefore affirm the district court’s judgment.

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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