United States v. Carol Ann Green

Summary

Carol Ann Green appealed the two-level sentencing enhancement imposed under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines § 2D1.1(b)(1) for possessing a firearm during a drug-trafficking offense. The Eighth Circuit held that, because Green possessed an accessible firearm and ammunition in the apartment where she conducted cocaine-base transactions, it was not clearly improbable that the firearm was connected to the offense, and it affirmed the sentence.

Holdings

1. The district court did not clearly err in finding that Green possessed a firearm during the commission of the offense. The firearm enhancement applied because the gun and ammunition were located in the same apartment where Green operated her drug-distribution business, and it was not clearly improbable that the firearm was connected with the offense.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court clearly erred in finding that Green possessed a firearm during the commission of her drug-distribution offense.
2. Whether the two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1) applied where the firearm was unloaded but readily accessible in the apartment from which Green conducted drug transactions.

Disposition

affirmed