[DISCLAIMER ADDED 3/13/11: PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE SUPREME COURT HAS SINCE DECIDED THIS ISSUE TO REQUIRE THAT THE SENTENCE ON 924(c) COUNTS TO RUN CONSECUTIVE TO THE SENTENCE ON A DRUG CONVICTION, See ABBOTT V. UNITED STATES, No. 09-479 (U.S. Nov. 15, 2010)]
Although you won't find any mention of it in the U.S. Attorney's Press Release trumpeting a 10-year sentence on a man who tended a marijuana garden in the Sierra National Forest, see 5/18/10 USA Press Release and 5/21/10 Turlock Journal, the real story for criminal defense attorneys here is that Judge Wanger agreed that the 5-year sentence on the defendant's gun conviction under 18 U.S.C. §924(c) should run concurrent--rather than consecutive--to his mandatory minimum 10-year sentence on his marijuana cultivation conviction. With no controlling Ninth Circuit precedent, the Court followed the holding of the Second Circuit's decision in United States v. Williams, 558 F.3d 166 (2d Cir. 2009). See 3/13/09 Blog Post On Williams Decision. The Supreme Court has recently granted certiorari in two cases to resolve the circuit split on this issue. The full argument is set forth in the Sicairos-Quintero Sentecing Memorandum. The 10-year statutory minimum sentence in this case seems more than sufficient to satisfy the §3553(a) purposes of sentencing. Congratulations to AFD Charles Lee. Defense attorneys should continue to seek concurrent sentences on these 924(c) counts.