Alvin Beasley v. United States

Alvin Beasley was indicted, tried, and found guilty of being a felon unlawfully in possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). That offense carried a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years. 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2) (2019). 1 But at sentencing, the Government sought to punish Beasley under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), which subjects defendants to a 15-year mandatory minimum and a statutory maximum of life imprisonment if they have three prior convictions for violent felonies “committed on occasions different from one another.” § 924(e)(1). Although the Government failed to charge the ACCA enhancement in the indictment and never presented evidence on the issue to the jury, over Mr. Beasley’s objection the district court found for itself that Beasley qualified as an armed career criminal and sentenced him to 300 months’ imprisonment. After Beasley’s sentencing, this Court decided Erlinger v. United States, 602 U.S. 821 (2024), which held that a jury, rather than a judge, must decide whether ACCA-predicate offenses were committed on different occasions. On appeal, the Seventh Circuit agreed that the district court violated Beasley’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights under Erlinger. Yet the court ultimately affirmed his sentence, finding the Erlinger error was harmless. 1 Congress amended § 924 in 2022, moving the penalty provision for violating § 922(g) from § 924(a)(2) to § 924(a)(8) and increasing the statutory maximum sentence from 10 years to 15 years. Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Pub. L. No. 117-159, sec. 12004, 136 Stat. 1313, 1329 (2022). Beasley’s case predates that change so all references to § 924 in this petition refer to the 2019 version in effect at the time of Beasley’s offense.