by Masoninblue
Innocence Ain’t Good Enough to Get Out of Prison
9:21 am in Uncategorized by Masoninblue
Cross posted from Frederick Leatherman Law Blog.
Photo: Andrew Scott / Flickr
Federal prosecutors have many tools to fight crime in their toolbox and one of their favorites to use is the federal statute that prohibits a previously convicted felon from possessing a firearm. The potential penalty is a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
In the the typical case, state law enforcement officers will arrest a suspect for some relatively minor offense, often a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor such as a DUI, or a minor felony such as possession of a small quantity of marijuana, and while searching the suspect, they find a firearm. When they subsequently check the suspect’s prior record, they discover a prior felony conviction.
Question: Now what do they do?
Answer: They contact the feds and turn the case over to them.
Why?
Because a federal felon-in-possession-of-a-firearm charge is a far more serious offense resulting in a much longer sentence than would be imposed in state court if the suspect were convicted. Usually the difference is many years versus a few months.
Felon in possession charges are also very easy to prove and most defendants plead guilty.
No muss, no fuss.
Buh-bye.
Oops, not so in North Carolina anymore.
Why?
