US v. Jones: Jones was convicted of robbery and firearms offenses in 2014 and started serving a term of supervised release in 2024. Later that year, he was arrested on a revocation petition that alleged (among other things) that he been charged with felony possession of counterfeit instruments in state court and had repeatedly tested positive for using various drugs. A probation report calculated the advisory Guideline range as 8 to 14 months, using a Grace B violation as the most severe violation. At the revocation hearing, however, the violation based on the state felony was dismissed, while Jones admitted to the others. The district court nonetheless applied the same Guideline range and ultimately revoked Jones’ term of supervised release and imposed a sentence of 19 months in prison.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit vacated Jones’ sentence. The court agreed with Jones (applying plain error), that the district court erred by concluding that Jones had committed a Grade B violation and calculating the Guidelines accordingly. The court rejected the Government’s argument that illegal drug use – a felony – “can be inferred” from the failed drug tests, holding that while such an inference might be made, the district court did not do so in this case.
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