United States v. Smith, No. 22-1447 (7th Cir. 2022)
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An informant purchased 3.1 grams of methamphetamine from Smith. Later, an undercover agent purchased 0.7 grams of fentanyl and heroin from Smith. Smith was subsequently arrested on an outstanding warrant, carrying a loaded semiautomatic handgun; 23 packages collectively containing 3.1 grams of fentanyl and heroin; several hundred dollars in cash; and a digital scale bearing fentanyl residue.
Smith was convicted (21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C)) for both purchases and the drugs recovered during his arrest; of carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime, 18 U.S.C. 924(c); and as a felon in possession of a firearm, 922(g)(1). The PSR grouped Counts 1, 2, 3, and 5 together for an offense level of 23 because Smith’s semiautomatic firearm was “capable of accepting a large capacity magazine,” and a one-level multiple-count enhancement applied. The court awarded one point for acceptance of responsibility. Smith was in the highest criminal history category. The Guidelines range on the grouped counts was 84–105 months; the 924(c) conviction carried a 60-month mandatory consecutive minimum sentence. Smith argued that he had possessed small quantities of drugs, that his criminal history was nonviolent, and that he only carried a gun for protection. The district court noted that fentanyl was especially dangerous and that Smith's presence with a gun created “a very dangerous event” but determined that the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors made a downward variance appropriate. The Seventh Circuit affirmed Smith's 120-month sentence. Smith failed to establish any procedural error. His below-Guidelines-range sentence is substantively reasonable.
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