Jay Letterlough Case Brief

Name and Citation: UNITED STATES v. LETTERLOUGH 63 F.3d 332 (1995)

Facts: An acquaintance of the defendant, Vincent Jay Letterlough, purchased a firearm without knowledge that Letterlough was a convicted felon. Upon learning that Letterlough was a felon, she turned herself into the police. Following her confession, Letterlough was charged with felony possession of a firearm in which he pled guilty. Because of a number of drug convictions, the Probation Officer during sentencing recommended considering Letterlough an Armed Career Criminal under the ACCA’s statutory sentencing enhancement. Since these charges were committed on the same occasion, Letterlough contested that he did not possess the three requites it requires to be considered an Armed Career Criminal under § 924(e)(1), since two occasions were on the same date. The Government agreed.

Procedural History: The district court denied Letterlough and the government’s objections to enhancement, and sentenced Letterlough to 84 months in prison. Additionally, Letterlough

It is important to determine if the acts were separate because the defendant is only eligible for enhancement if the defendant has three prior convictions for a violent felony, serious drug conviction, or both. 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). The time spent in between the two transactions was sufficient enough to make the conscious decision to engage into another illegal drug sale. The court determined that the sales constituted as single occasional because the undercover officer who Letterlough sold the drugs to did not arrest him after the first sale. Letterlough states that because the officer failed to arrest him after their transaction, some responsibility should fall on the officer, but requiring law enforcement to do so could interfere with sting operations and undercover