Sentencing Guidelines

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Aaron Lamon

Case No.: 17-2764

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and KANNE and SCUDDER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sentencing Guidelines

Sentencing judges ordinarily “group” counts of conviction when they involve “substantially the same harm.” U.S.S.G. § 3D1.2. In United States v. Sinclair, 770 F.3d 1148 (7th Cir. 2014), we ruled that when facing a particular combination of counts—the same combination in this case—a judge may not group them. Aaron Lamon pleaded guilty to three counts: (1) possessing cocaine with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); (2) possessing a firearm in furtherance of that crime, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A); and (3) possessing a firearm as a felon, id. § 922(g)(1). Following Sinclair, at sentencing the judge did not group Lamon’s first and third counts—his drug‐trafficking conviction and felon‐in‐possession conviction. Because Lamon has not provided any valid basis for overturning Sinclair, we affirm the 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.