United States Third Circuit

Convictions and sentences of three defendants for robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce, witness tampering, and firearm related offenses is affirmed in part, including: 1) there was a sufficient nexus to interstate commerce to support the defendants' convictions under the Hobbs Act; 2) evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support the convictions of two of the defendants for witness tampering; 3) a defendant's challenge to the district court's denial of his pretrial motion to suppress a telephone conversation recorded at a prison is without merit; 4) district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the limited evidence concerning the post office robbery; and 5) defendants' challenge to the district court's imposition of the seven-year mandatory minimum sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. section 924(c)(1)(A)(ii) was unconstitutional is without merit. However, district court's imposition of a eight-year term of supervised release upon one of the defendants is vacated and remanded, as for a felony conviction pursuant to section 924(c), the maximum length of supervised release is five years.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/27/2012
• Published 08/27/2012

Judges

• Chagares

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel