In U.S. v. Jimenez-Cardenas, No. 11-14651 (June 22, 2012), the Court rejected the argument that the district court misapplied the Sentencing Guidelines when it declined to group Jimenez’s convictions for illegal reentry under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) with his 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5) firearm convictions.
The grouping rules, U.S.S.G. § 3D1.2, provide that offenses should be grouped together when they involve substantially the same harm. But different "societal interests" are harmed by illegal reentry and illegal possession of a firearm. The offenses involve different conduct. No aspect of one offense served as the basis for a sentence enhancement of the other offense.
