US v. Mitten, No. 09-1758

District court's sentence and conviction of a defendant for possessing five grams or more of crack cocaine with intent to distribute and unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime is affirmed where: 1) the affidavit was not so lacking in probable cause that the officer could not have believed the warrant was valid; 2) jury had sufficient evidence to conclude that the gun was possessed in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime; and 3) defendant's argument that the minimum ten-year sentence to which he was subject on the underlying drug trafficking crime rendered him exempt from section 924(c)'s consecutive sentence scheme is foreclosed by prior holding in Easter.   

Read US v. Mitten, No. 09-1758

Appellate Information

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois

Decided January 20, 2010

Judges

Before: Kanne,  and Tinder, Circuit Judges, and Griesbach, District Judge

Opinion by District Judge Griesbach