United States v. Yarmell Austin


NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604 Argued January 23, 2019 Decided February 15, 2019 Before DIANE P. WOOD, Chief Judge MICHAEL S. KANNE, Circuit Judge AMY J. ST. EVE, Circuit Judge No. 18-1604 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appeal from the United States District Plaintiff-Appellee, Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. v. No. 16 CR 359 YARMELL AUSTIN, Defendant-Appellant. John Z. Lee, Judge. ORDER In this appeal, Yarmell Austin challenges the sentence he received for being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The district court erred, he contends, by relying in part on the general plague of illegal gun use in Chicago as a reason to impose Austin’s 70-month sentence. Austin also argues that one of the conditions of his supervised release—the one that requires him to remain in the district court’s “jurisdiction”—is unconstitutionally vague. We conclude that the judge’s No. 18-1604 Page 2 reference to gun violence does not require reversal, but we find merit in Austin’s point about supervised release, and so we remand this case to the district court for the sole purpose of modifying that condition. I On the night of August 10, 2015, around 2:00 a.m., Austin was bicycling on the west side of Chicago. After he rode through an alley and onto a sidewalk, two nearby police officers approached him to talk. Before they reached him, Austin fled. As he pedaled away, he held a black object, which one officer believed to be a gun. The two officers pursued him, first by car and then on foot. As one of them came close, Austin hopped off his bicycle, ran through a gangway of a private residence, and tossed the black object aside. One of the officers finally caught him in the backyard, while the second officer recovered the thrown object, which later was identified as a loaded .22 caliber firearm. Austin was indicted for possessing a firearm as a felon. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). (He previously had been convicted of aggravated robbery and possessing a controlled substance.) After a trial, a jury found him guilty and a presentence investigation report (PSR) was prepared. It stated that Austin’s total offense level was 20 and that he had a criminal history category of VI, resulting in a recommended imprisonment range under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines of 70–87 months and a maximum supervised-release term of three years. At sentencing, the judge adopted the PSR’s guidelines calculations after Austin had a chance to review the document with counsel. Austin argued for a 48-month sentence, while the government asked for 87 months. The government based its request on “the extreme violence and gun violence that plagues the City of Chicago” and Austin’s status on parole for aggravated robbery, a crime of violence, see U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a). It added that gun violence “is usually perpetuated by individuals who are ...

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