United States v. Benedetti

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

On March 10, 1999, a federal grand jury sitting in the District of Rhode Island charged defendant-appellant Joseph Benedetti with being a felon in possession of a firearm. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). The appellant evaded arrest until July 2, 2003, when he was finally found in Florida.

Following the appellant’s enforced return to Rhode Island, a five-day trial ensued. The jury found the appellant guilty. The district court, over the appellant’s contemporaneous Blakely objection, see Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), sentenced him in…