United States v. Musgraves

Police investigated Musgraves for dealing drugs. Searching Musgraves’ house, they found ammunition, which Musgraves, a felon, was not allowed to possess. Musgraves agreed to act as Detective McCray's informant and was released. Musgraves later contacted McCray, who told Musgraves to call 911. Someone called 911 and stated that a man parked in front of Musgraves’ house had a gun under the driver’s seat and cocaine in the visor. Police found Smith passed out inside a car, with cocaine in his pocket and in the visor. Musgraves insisted that there was a gun, prompting another search. Officers then found a handgun under the seat. McCray investigated the gun's history and concluded that Musgraves had planted the evidence to frame Smith. Musgraves was convicted on five charges, including possessing a firearm and distributing cocaine, based on framing Smith. The court determined that Musgraves was a career offender and sentenced him to 240 months (below the Guidelines range). The Seventh Circuit reversed the “framing” convictions. On remand, the district court found, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Musgraves had distributed cocaine and possessed a firearm by framing Smith, which factored into its 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) analysis, and again imposed a 240-month sentence, stating that the career offender enhancement did not drive its decision. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The factual findings on the acquitted conduct are supported by a preponderance of the evidence, sufficient for guidelines sentencing. Even if the judge was wrong about the career offender enhancement, he made clear that any error would be harmless. View "United States v. Musgraves" on Justia Law