United States v. Ferguson, 889 F.3d 314

In April 2015, 17‑year‑old Grover Ferguson carjacked a woman, shot her three times at close range (including once in the face), left her to crawl to safety, and drove off; the victim survived with permanent injuries including blindness in one eye.
Ferguson pleaded guilty to vehicular robbery by force (18 U.S.C. § 2119(2)) and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence (18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(iii)).
Initial guidelines range was 198–217 months; the district court first imposed 600 months, this court vacated and remanded, and a new judge sentenced Ferguson to 35 years (420 months).
At resentencing the judge found the guidelines underrepresented the offense’s seriousness, analogized the conduct to attempted murder, and emphasized the victim’s lifelong harms, Ferguson’s juvenile record, in‑custody misconduct, and apparent lack of remorse.
Ferguson argued on appeal that the district court failed to give adequate mitigating weight to his youth (invoking Supreme Court juvenile‑sentencing jurisprudence) and failed to adequately explain the above‑guidelines sentence.
The Seventh Circuit reviewed procedural claims de novo and substantive reasonableness for abuse of discretion, and affirmed the 35‑year sentence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court failed to consider Ferguson's youth consistent with Supreme Court juvenile‑sentencing precedents	Ferguson: court ignored or misapplied Roper/Graham/Miller; youth should mitigate culpability	Government: court considered youth but reasonably weighed it against offense gravity and other factors	Court: rejected Ferguson; judge engaged with science and precedent and permissibly found youth outweighed by offense, history, and lack of remorse
Whether the district court procedurally erred in explaining an above‑guidelines sentence (17 years above top of range)	Ferguson: judge did not adequately articulate reasons for such a large upward variance	Government: judge sufficiently relied on § 3553(a) factors and explained that guidelines underrepresented seriousness (analogous to attempted murder)	Court: no procedural error; explanation was adequate and tied to § 3553(a) factors and proportionality principles

Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005) (juveniles differ from adults in culpability; relevant to death‑penalty youth analysis)
Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010) (juveniles have lessened culpability; life without parole for nonhomicide unconstitutional)
Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012) (children are constitutionally different for sentencing; mandatory LWOP for juveniles invalid)
Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38 (2007) (sentencing courts must consider § 3553(a) factors and explain substantial variances from guidelines)
United States v. Ferguson, 831 F.3d 850 (7th Cir. 2016) (prior appeal vacating the original 600‑month sentence and remanding for resentencing)