United States v. Jeffers

• Citation: 134 F.Supp.3d 1132
• Decision Date: 30 September 2015
• Docket Number: No. CR 13-3033-MWB,CR 13-3033-MWB
• Parties: United States of America, Plaintiff, v. Bruce Kenton Jeffers, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa

134 F.Supp.3d 1132

United States of America, Plaintiff,
v.
Bruce Kenton Jeffers, Defendant.

No. CR 13-3033-MWB

United States District Court, N.D. Iowa, Central Division.

Signed September 30, 2015

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Jamie D. Bowers, U.S. Attorney's Office, Sioux City, IA, for Plaintiff.

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MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING SENTENCING

MARK W. BENNETT, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION ... 1137

A. Factual Background ... 1137

B. Procedural Background ... 1140

C. Arguments Of The Parties ... 1141

II. LEGAL ANALYSIS ... 1142

A. The Sentencing Methodology ... 1142

B. Application Of The Sentencing Methodology ... 1142

1. Calculation of the guidelines range ... 1142

2. Calculation of traditional guidelines-based departures ... 1143

3. Whether to vary upward ... 1144

III. CONCLUSION ... 1147

This sentencing opinion involves a violent felon, Bruce Kenton Jeffers, illegally in possession of a firearm and ammunition and his threatening use of them to inflict post-traumatic stress disorderupon his ex-girlfriend and their five-year-old daughter. Jeffers illegally and stealthily entered his ex-girlfriend's residence, under cover of darkness, in the wee hours of an August morning, found his ex-girlfriend on the living room couch asleep with their five-year-old daughter, stuck a loaded firearm in his ex-girlfriend's face, while holding her down with the other arm, threatened to kill her, and warned her not to call the police. Jeffers was charged with, and has pleaded guilty to, separate counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a felon in possession of ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2), and 924(e)(1).

This case is yet another exquisite, but all too frequent, example that correctly calculated United States Sentencing Guidelines, which are not empirically based, can be irrational.¹ U.S. Probation, the Department

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of Justice, and the defense agree that the correctly computed advisory sentencing guidelines range in this case is 18 to 24 months, and they are right. Yet, no rational human would suggest that a guidelines range of 18 to 24 months would be an appropriate sentence in this case, based on the offense conduct alone. But wait, there's more!² Jeffers has served five different prison terms for crimes—including voluntary manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon, arson of an inhabited structure, evading a police officer and disregarding safety, being a felon and addict in possession of a firearm, and burglary of a home—in three different states. But wait, there's more! He has been sent to jail nine different times for other crimes. But wait, there's more! He has had his parole revoked twice and his probation once and, each time, has been sent back to prison. But wait, there's more! But for the recent United States Supreme Court decision in Johnson v. United States , ––– U.S. ––––, 135 S.Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015), he would have faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 180 months and an advisory sentencing guidelines range of 188 to 235 months. Thus, Johnson has the staggering effect of reducing the bottom of Jeffers's advisory sentencing guidelines range from 188 months to 18 months—a whopping 95% reduction. Furthermore, Jeffers now faces a statutory maximum sentence of 120 months—a one-third reduction of his originally anticipated statutory minimum sentence.

The effect of the sentencing guidelines in Jeffers's case contrasts starkly with their effect in the case of another felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, Leslie George Simpson,³ whom I sentenced the day before I sentenced Jeffers. Simpson was a decorated war hero who served four tours of duty in Vietnam as a combat soldier in the United States Marine Corps. While serving in Vietnam, Simpson sustained shrapnel injuries to his leg and lost hearing in one of his ears. He also earned the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Rifle Sharpshooter Badge, Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Cross of Gallantry, a Pistol Badge, and a Rifle Badge. Simpson, unlike Jeffers, suffered from, rather than inflicted, post-traumatic stress disorder, which was a consequence of Simpson's combat service. From 1994 to 2013, Simpson was the owner and operator of his own business, Lake Shore Tram, Incorporated, which installed and serviced outdoor lift and/or tram elevators. At the time of his sentencing, Simpson was retired. Simpson had two prior convictions. The first was a 1980 state conviction for second-degree theft, for which he received a suspended prison sentence, five years of probation, and no criminal history points. This conviction arose from Simpson selling 48 pigs without notice or payment to a lender. The second was a 2012 federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm, for which he received five years of probation and one criminal history point. On March 11, 2015, Simpson pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of four firearms and various rounds of ammunition

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from about January 1, 2014, through January 21, 2015, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1)and 924(a)(2). Simpson's offense had not involved any use or threatened use of any of the firearms in question. Yet, owing to the irrationality of the pertinent Sentencing Guidelines, Simpson's total offense level was 19—four levels higher than Jeffers's—his criminal history category was the same as Jeffers's, and his advisory sentencing guidelines range was 33 to 41 months, almost double Jeffers's. As my administrative assistant cogently asked, "Who would you rather have living next door, Jeffers or Simpson?" The answer, for most of us—apparently excluding those who formulated the firearms Sentencing Guidelines—would be Simpson.

Not surprisingly, then, the prosecution has moved for an upward departure or variance in Jeffers's case, based on Jeffers's numerous prior convictions, because those prior convictions can no longer be used to sentence Jeffers as an "armed career criminal," after Johnson , and they are too old to be "counted" in the determination of Jeffers's criminal history category. I have, with some frequency, disagreed with guidelines sentences that I believed were too harsh or excessive, sometimes on policy grounds,⁴ but this case presents the much rarer instance in which I disagree with a guidelines sentence, because I believe that it is simply too lenient.⁵

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I. INTRODUCTION

A. Factual Background

According to the Second Amended And Final Presentence Investigation Report (2nd Amended PSIR) (docket no. 80), the offense conduct leading to Jeffers's guilty plea in this case is the following:

On August 5, 2013, Fort Dodge, Iowa, police officers were dispatched to a domestic disturbance involving a firearm. They were advised that [Jeffers] had entered the residence of his estranged girlfriend and mother of his children, Julie Jensen, at [*******************], Fort Dodge, Iowa. Jensen advised that she was asleep on the couch with her daughter when [Jeffers] held her with one hand and put a gun in her face with the other. [Jeffers] threatened Jensen and told her not to call the police. Jensen advised the officers that she and [Jeffers] had been together since 1999 and that they separated in November 2012. She stated the defendant now had his own residence. [Jeffers] was located by officers as he was pulling into the garage at his residence located at 716 South 20th Street Fort Dodge, Iowa. Located in plain view on the front seat of [Jeffers's] truck were live rounds of .380 caliber ammunition. A loaded black Kel Tec .380 pistol with serial number L3U38 was located several feet from [Jeffers's] driveway behind a wire fence in the adjoining neighbor's yard. During his arrest and booking, [Jeffers] attempted to conceal and discard additional .380 caliber rounds of ammunition in the booking area of the jail.

2nd Amended PSIR at ¶ 4. Jeffers, who was then 52 years old, was initially charged with first-degree burglary in the Iowa...