United States v. Clark

BACKGROUND

On April 30, 2003, North Las Vegas police executed a traf- fic stop of an automobile moving at a high speed. Appellant UNITED STATES v. CLARK 7371 Joey Clark, a passenger in the car, was asked to exit the vehi- cle, and police officers noticed he was wearing a bullet-proof vest. Clark tried to flee; a struggle ensued; and a handgun fell from Clark’s pants and landed on the ground. Police then dis- covered a second gun in Clark’s possession.

Clark had a previous conviction for possessing a controlled substance with intent to sell, and a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Clark with unlawful possession of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and forfeiture of the fire- arms under 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2). The indictment specifically alleged that Clark “knowingly possess[ed a] . . . handgun, with an obliterated serial number.”

Clark pleaded guilty to the charges in the indictment with- out a plea agreement and submitted objections to the Pre- Sentence Report, arguing that it would be error to assign a two-level increase for possessing a weapon with an obliter- ated serial number. He repeated those objections at the sen- tencing hearing,…