JONES v. USA

Filing 8

ENTRY granting motion for relief pursuant to 28:225. Petitioner shall be sentenced to 74 months to be followed by a 2-year term of supervised release. A Judgment and Commitment in the associate criminal matter shall be forthcoming. The clerk shall docket this Entry in the criminal case, 1:13-cr-50-WTL-TAB-1. Signed by Judge William T. Lawrence on 4/11/2017.(CBU)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

MICHAEL K. JONES,
Petitioner,
vs.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Respondent.

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No. 1:16-cv-01592-WTL-MJD

Entry Granting Motion for Relief Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255
Petitioner Michael Jones and the United States of America have filed a stipulation
regarding his motion for relief from the judgment in Jones’s criminal matter, 1:13-cr-0050-WTLTAB-1, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015), and
Welch v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 1257 (2016).
Jones was convicted in this Court on June 24, 2014, of being a felon in possession under
18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and 924(c) and was sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18
U.S.C. § 924(e) (“ACCA”), to a term of 180 months to be followed by a 5-year term of
supervised release. The three predicate violent felonies giving rise to Mr. Jones’s status under the
ACCA were a battery resulting in bodily injury in Delaware County, Indiana, dealing cocaine in
Delaware County, Indiana, and residential entry in Delaware County, Indiana.
On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court held the residual clause of the
ACCA unconstitutional. Johnson, 135 S. Ct. 2551. Subsequently, the Supreme Court held that
Johnson announced a new substantive rule of constitutional law that the Supreme Court had
categorically made retroactive. Welch, 136 S. Ct. at 1257.

The parties agree that Jones’s residential entry conviction was considered a violent felony
based upon the residual clause of the ACCA. The parties further stipulate that Jones therefore
does not have a sufficient number of prior convictions for ACCA status. Upon review of the
underlying facts of the case, the parties agree that the sentence imposed in this case was illegal in
that it exceeded the otherwise applicable statutory maximum penalty of 10 years incarceration
and three years of supervised release, under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Finally, the parties have
stipulated that a sentence of 74 months and a 2-year term of supervised release is sufficient, but
not greater than necessary in this matter.
The Court agrees that Jones’s previous sentence was unconstitutional and that a reduction
is necessary pursuant to Johnson and Welch. The Court concludes that the parties’ stipulation is
fair and just under the law and hereby GRANTS Petitioner’s Motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
2255. Petitioner shall be sentenced to 74 months to be followed by a 2-year term of supervised
release. A Judgment and Commitment in the associate criminal matter shall be forthcoming.
Judgment consistent with this Order shall issue in this matter.
The clerk shall docket this Entry in the criminal case, United States v. Jones, 1:13-cr50-WTL-TAB-1.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Date: 4/11/17

Hon. William T. Lawrence, Judge
United States District Court
Southern District of Indiana

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