Justia U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The Moorish Temple is a religious organization that believes Moors are the rightful owners of North America. As a “Grand Sheik,” Walton preached that the government occupies Moorish land and owes its members payment, which they could acquire by filing specialized tax returns. Many people filed fraudulent tax returns at Walton’s urging. Walton pled guilty to mail fraud. An attachment to the PSR showed that other defendants received sentences ranging from probation to 28 months’ imprisonment for similar schemes but the probation officer calculated a range of 70-87 months for Walton, based on an agreed‐upon intended‐loss amount of $16,391,161. The Seventh Circuit affirmed a 68-month sentence, noting Walton’s leadership role and the vulnerable nature of his followers. View "United States v. Walton" on Justia Law

Law enforcement intercepted cellular telephone communications pursuant to a Maryland state court order, revealing that Moreno and Salinas planned to transport illegal drugs to Illinois. Lopez arranged for Linares to get the drugs from Salinas and bring them to him. Law enforcement intercepted the drugs at an Illinois bus stop, arresting Salinas and Linares and seizing 10 ounces of methamphetamine. A government source engaged in three controlled purchases of illegal drugs from Lopez. Lopez knowingly with knowingly attempting to possess 50 grams or more of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(viii). Lopez unsuccessfully moved to suppress evidence of two cellular telephone calls, arguing that the Maryland order violated 18 U.S.C. 2518(4)(b) by failing to specify “the nature and location of the communications facilities,” and that intercepted communications fell outside of the state’s territorial jurisdiction. The government notified Lopez that it intended to rely on two prior drug convictions to enhance his sentence to life in prison. One conviction stemmed from a 1999 Texas felony marijuana possession charge for which Lopez completed a deferred adjudication. The Seventh Circuit affirmed Lopez’s conviction and life sentence, upholding the denial of the motion to suppress. The district court expressly found that the listening post was in Maryland. The court rejected challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence and that the government failed to prove that Lopez took a substantial step toward committing the underlying offense. The court did not err in counting Lopez’s 1999 conviction as a predicate conviction. View "United States v. Lopez" on Justia Law

The Seventh Circuit affirmed defendants' convictions for child pornography charges. On appeal, defendants argued that the warrant authorizing the Playpen child pornography website searches was invalid and that the fruit of those searches -- defendants' identities -- should have been suppressed. The court held that, even assuming without deciding that the federal agents' digital searches pursuant to a Network Investigative Technique (NIT) violated the Fourth Amendment, the good faith exception to the exclusionary ruled applied. View "United States v. Kienast" on Justia Law

The Seventh Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for conspiring to distribute cocaine. Defendant argued that the facts did not demonstrate that he agreed with others to buy and sell cocaine. The court held that the record showed not only that defendant voluntarily pleaded guilty, but that there was sufficient factual basis to support the plea. In this case, during defendant's plea colloquy, he confirmed that he understood the charge of conspiracy and that the government's factual proffer was sufficient. View "United States v. Neal" on Justia Law

The statutory provision that prohibits ordering restitution to a participant in defendant's offense, 18 U.S.C. 3663(a)(1)(A), does not prohibit ordering restitution to the participant's family members in cases in which the family members are victims in their own right, whose losses are not merely derivative of the participant's losses.The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court's sentence and order of restitution after defendant was convicted of 13 criminal charges related to a heroin distribution conspiracy he operated. In this case, the family members were directly harmed by defendant's criminal conduct where they witnessed defendant commit murder and suffered incredibly traumatic injuries as a direct result of the event. View "United States v. Price" on Justia Law

The Seventh Circuit affirmed defendant's 20 year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to transporting methamphetamine as part of a 20-person conspiracy. The court held that the evidence, viewed apart from the base offense levels of defendant's coconspirators, was sufficient to support the district court's finding that defendant handled more than 1.5 kilograms of Ice. In this case, the decision not to treat defendant identically with his coconspirators did not plainly make a difference to his sentencing range or impair the fairness or integrity of the proceedings. The court also held that defendant was not entitled to insist on a minimal role for himself while still receiving credit for accepting responsibility. View "United States v. Castaneda" on Justia Law

The Seventh Circuit reversed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence after he pleaded guilty to illegal possession of heroin and a firearm. In this case, officers detained and frisked defendant after observing him and his brother load paper bags into defendant's garage. The officer who ordered the stop had a hunch that the bags contained drug-trafficking contraband, but the officer was wrong. Nonetheless, eight officers continued to detain defendant.The court held that when the officers seized and searched defendant, they did not have a reasonable suspicion that he was engaged in crime. Even if the original stop had been justified, the officers continued detaining defendant beyond the original justification for the stop. The court held that either violation was sufficient to undermine the validity of defendant's eventual consent to the search of his house. View "United States v. Lopez" on Justia Law

The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion for a hearing under Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (1978), to probe the credibility of the FBI agent who procured a warrant for samples of his DNA. In this case, defendant conditionally pleaded guilty to bank robbery. The court held that, although the wording of the warrant affidavit was misleading, curing the inaccuracy would not defeat probable cause. Nevertheless, the court held that defendant failed to make a substantial preliminary showing that the misstatement was deliberate or reckless. View "United States v. Daniels" on Justia Law

The Seventh Circuit affirmed defendant's 71 month sentence after he pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl. The court held that any error in calculating defendant's criminal history category was harmless because it had no effect on the sentenced imposed. The court also held that the district court gave a sufficient explanation for departing from the recommended 3-year term. The court remanded with instructions for the district court to correct two clerical errors in the written judgment. View "United States v. Clark" on Justia Law

The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2254. Petitioner claimed that the prosecutor made improper statements during closing arguments. The court held that the prosecutor's comment on petitioner's failure to testify was not an invitation for the jury to consider petitioner's decision as evidence of his guilty. To the extent that any prejudice arose from the comment, the clear jury instructions cured it. The court also held that the prosecutor's argument concerning the Gangster Disciples did not prejudice petitioner. View "Clark v. Lashbrook" on Justia Law