United States v. Korvell Dennis Pittman

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

The defendant pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced under the federal sentencing guidelines (before the Supreme Court’s Booker decision) to 188 months in prison, the bottom of the applicable guideline range but only eight months above the statutory minimum. The Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), imposes a 180-month minimum sentence on anyone who has at least three prior convictions of specified offenses. The judge found that the defendant’s criminal record qualified under this provision, and findings of prior convictions…