Rutherford v. United States · ¶1

Petitioner Daniel Rutherford was convicted of two counts of using and carrying a frearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U. S. C. § 924(c). Petitioner Johnnie Carter was convicted of three § 924(c) violations. At the time each was sentenced, a defendant convicted of two § 924(c) counts was subject to a mandatory 25-year sentence for the second offense that would be “stacked” upon (i. e., run consecutively to) the first offense's mandatory penalty. That sentencing scheme resulted in a 32-year minimum sentence for Rutherford's § 924(c) violations and a 57-year minimum sentence for Carter's violations. Years later, Congress passed the First Step Act of 2018, which eliminated the 25-year stacking requirement for first-time offenders. Rutherford and Carter do not qualify for the Act's reduced penalties because the amendment to § 924(c) does not apply to defendants sentenced…

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