United States v. Harry Lewis Nelson

Harry Nelson appeals his sentence, imposed after a guilty plea to a charge of failure to appear for a court hearing. He argues that the United States Sentencing Commission, in Guidelines § 2J1.6, violated Congressional intent by gauging the sentence for failure to appear on the statutory maximum of the underlying offense charged, regardless whether the defendant was convicted of that charge. He also argues that § 2J1.6(b)(1) conflicts with the Commission’s intent to avoid double counting. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

On October 20, 1986, after Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration searched the Nelsons’ residence and found methamphetamine and evidence of its manufacturing, Nelson and two co-defendants were arrested. In an indictment returned March 8, 1988, Nelson was charged with one count of conspiring to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (1988) and two counts of possessing with intent to distribute and one count of distributing methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1) (1988).

Nelson failed to appear on July 22, 1988 for a hearing on a motion to suppress and the court issued a bench warrant for his…