United States v. Peter Santos Murillo

In this appeal we conclude that, notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s decision in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 , 124 S.Ct. 2531 , 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), in determining whether a Washington state criminal conviction is of a crime punishable by a term exceeding one year for purposes of prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(1) (felon in possession of a firearm), the maximum sentence for the prior conviction is defined by the state criminal statute, not the maximum sentence in the particular case set by Washington’s sentencing guidelines.

BACKGROUND

Peter Santos Murillo pled guilty in 1998 in Washington state court to one count of harassment in violation of R.C.W. § 9A.46.020(2)(b), and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree in violation of R.C.W. § 9.41.040(2)(b). Each crime is considered a class C felony punishable by a term of imprisonment up to five years. R.C.W. § 9A.20.021(l)(c). Under Washington’s sentencing guidelines, based on Murillo’s “Seriousness Level” of III and his “Offender Score” of 2 for his harassment conviction and 3 for his unlawful firearm possession conviction, Murillo’s actual maximum possible term of imprisonment was 12…