Background
Trayvon Murphy pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess firearms during crimes of violence and drug trafficking, as well as conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery. The district court sentenced him based on a presentence report that applied a cross-reference to first-degree murder because Murphy provided a rifle used by a co-defendant to kill a rival dealer. Murphy appealed, challenging the factual findings, the drug quantity calculation, the denial of a mitigating role adjustment, and the application of the cross-reference.
The court’s reasoning
The court affirmed the district court’s factual findings on drug quantity and the denial of a mitigating role adjustment, noting that the defendant failed to present rebuttal evidence. However, the court reversed the application of the cross-reference under U.S.S.G. section two K two point one c one B. The court reasoned that the phrase cited in the offense of conviction requires the firearm to be identified in the indictment or information, not merely in the relevant conduct. Since the superseding indictment did not cite the specific .223 caliber rifle used in the murder, the cross-reference was inapplicable. The court also affirmed the use of the preponderance of the evidence standard for sentencing.
The dissent
It leads to the perverse consequence that the more violent criminal activity a defendant is charged with in addition to illegal gun possession, the less onerous his sentence.
Edith H. Jones
What it means going forward
The ruling clarifies that sentencing enhancements based on cross-references to other offenses require the specific firearm to be cited in the indictment or information, limiting the scope of relevant conduct considerations for this specific enhancement.