People v. Soto, 7 N.E.3d 823

Carlos Soto was tried for unlawful use of a weapon (UUW) by a felon for knowingly possessing firearm ammunition in his home. The information alleged a prior felony conviction for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (AUUW) (08 CR 19898).
At the scene officers found a box of ammunition near Soto’s bed and an empty magazine under the bed; Soto allegedly admitted the items were his and said his gun was stolen.
The parties stipulated that Soto had a qualifying prior felony conviction (the AUUW conviction), and the State proceeded only on the count alleging the prior AUUW conviction.
The jury convicted Soto; he was sentenced to seven years; the mittimus labeled the UUW-by-felon offense as a Class 2 felony making him a Class X offender.
On appeal Soto argued (1) the AUUW prior is void under People v. Aguilar and thus an element of UUW-by-felon was unproven, and (2) the State failed to give statutory notice under 725 ILCS 5/111-3(c) that it sought the enhanced Class 2 UUW classification rather than the Class 3 baseline.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Soto’s prior AUUW conviction is void post-Aguilar, so State failed to prove element of UUW-by-felon	State: prior AUUW was a valid Class 2 conviction and may be used as an element	Soto: Aguilar invalidated AUUW and his prior conviction is void, so element lacking	Held: AUUW Class 2 conviction here is valid; Aguilar invalidated only the Class 4 form; State proved prior felony by stipulation, conviction affirmed
Whether section 111-3(c) notice was required before charging/sentencing as Class 2 UUW	State: prior conviction was an element of the charged offense (alleged in the information), not an enhancement seeking a higher classification	Soto: absence of explicit notice deprived him of required statutory notice of enhanced classification	Held: 111-3(c) does not apply because the prior conviction was an element of the offense as charged (Class 2 was the only statutorily allowed sentence given the allegation); no notice required; sentence affirmed

District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) (Second Amendment protects individual right to possess firearms but subject to historical restrictions)
People v. Aguilar, 2013 IL 112116 (Ill. 2013) (Illinois Supreme Court: Class 4 form of AUUW violated Second Amendment)
People v. Blair, 2013 IL 114122 (Ill. 2013) (unconstitutional statutes are void ab initio)
People v. Jameson, 162 Ill. 2d 282 (Ill. 1994) (legislative notice purpose for section 111-3(c))
People v. Enoch, 122 Ill. 2d 176 (Ill. 1988) (appellate forfeiture rules for unpreserved issues)
People v. Thompson, 209 Ill. 2d 19 (Ill. 2004) (void sentences may be attacked at any time)