United States v. John Henry Young

Following his conviction and sentencing for assaulting a federal officer and related charges, John Henry Young filed, pro se, a motion to correct an illegal sentence. The district court denied the motion, as well as Young’s subsequent motion to reconsider. We affirm.

I

On March 23, 1988, Young and his cousin, James Snell, were shooting gophers on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. Two Bureau of Indian Affairs police officers stopped Snell’s automobile for running a stop sign. One of the officers, Sergeant Myron Oats, recognized Young as the subject of two outstanding tribal warrants. When Oats attempted to arrest Young, a struggle ensued over possession of Young’s rifle. Young, however, was eventually subdued.

Young was indicted for assaulting a federal officer, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111 , possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g), and use of a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924 (c). The jury convicted Young on all three counts. The district court sentenced Young to ten years’ imprisonment on the first count, the maximum sentence possible when an assault on a federal officer involves a…