US v. Nash, No. 09-3796

Felon In Possession Sentence Affirmed

In US v. Nash, No. 09-3796, the court affirmed defendant's sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm, holding that 1) defendant's 1995 adjudication for First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct under Minnesota's Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction (EJJ) was not a predicate offense under 18 U.S.C. section 924(e); 2) because the firearm defendant possessed in Minnesota was manufactured in Massachusetts, there was a sufficient interstate nexus to provide federal jurisdiction; and 3) given defendant's violent and extensive criminal history, as well as the district court's consideration of the sentencing factors, the imposed sentence was substantively reasonable.

As the court wrote:  "A jury convicted Ewell Dennis Nash of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(e)(1). Determining that Nash had three prior convictions that were predicate offenses under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), the district court1 designated Nash an armed career criminal subject to the mandatory minimum fifteen-year sentence of 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). The court sentenced him to 260 months imprisonment. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms."

Related Resources

• Read the Eighth Circuit's Decision in US v. Nash, No. 09-3796