United States v. Krul

In 2009, Krul, a convicted felon, took a 9mm Glock handgun out of his friend’s basement to use as collateral for a drug deal, but the dealer refused to return it to Krul after the deal was completed. A chain of transfers took the weapon to Dantzler, who used the weapon on a murderous spree. The one to whom Krul initially transferred the gun cooperated with authorities, and eventually Krul and the one that transferred the weapon to Dantzler were indicted. Krul pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). The Sentencing Guidelines range was 51 to 63 months. The court sentenced Krul to 63 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release with various strict conditions. On appeal, Krul argued that some of the court’s statements during sentencing imply that the court impermissibly factored rehabilitation into the length of his prison sentence. The Sixth Circuit rejected the claim: the district court carefully considered rehabilitation for other, permissible purposes and Krul invited the discussion of rehabilitation by emphasizing rehabilitation during his own statement. The court had emphasized Krul’s extensive criminal history since age 14 and the need to protect the public. View "United States v. Krul" on Justia Law