United States v. Ruska

In 2002, Ruska drove a 19-year-old woman down a two-track road in rural Michigan, stopped the car, and revealed he had a handgun. The woman asked him several times to take her home, but Ruska raped her three times. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge: assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. The court sentenced him to one year in jail. After his release, Ruska raped another woman and pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping. He was sentenced to 10-15 years in prison. Within two years after he was discharged on parole, Ruska attacked another woman and raped her repeatedly over several days until the police found them in the Hiawatha National Forest, which is under federal territorial jurisdiction. Ruska pleaded guilty to kidnapping and three counts of sexual abuse. The district court sentenced him to life in prison for each count. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. The “three strikes” statute, 18 U.S.C. 3559(c), mandated a life sentence. Ruska’s 2002 conviction under Mich. Comp. Laws 750.84,1 qualified as a serious violent felony under the elements clause of the three strikes statute. View "United States v. Ruska" on Justia Law