United States v. Darden, No. 06-4567-cr (2d Cir. August 15, 2008) (Cardamone, Pooler, CJJ, Keenan, DJ)
Under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) (“ACCA”), a felon-in-possession of a firearm or ammunition faces a fifteen-year mandatory minimum sentence (the maximum is life) if he has at least three prior convictions for felony crimes of violence and/or “serious” drug offenses. The statute defines “serious” drug offenses as those for which the maximum penalty that “is prescribed” is ten years or more.
These four consolidated appeals all arose from the application of this definition to defendants whose past convictions were for New York State Class C or Class B (first offender) drug felonies. Until 2005, the maximum penalty for such offenses was more than ten years. Effective January of 2005, the state reduced the maximum penalty for such offenseses to less than ten years, but the amelioration is not retroactive.…