United States v. Hayes, 872 F.3d 843

Hayes pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of an AK-47; plea agreement stated the gun’s serial number was covered by a “paint-like substance” that prevented visibility.
The government and the PSR recommended a 4-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(4)(B) for a firearm whose serial number was “altered or obliterated”; Hayes disputed applicability but admitted the serial number was covered.
Forensic specialists used chemical solvent and light polishing to recover the serial number.
At sentencing the district court applied the § 2K2.1(b)(4)(B) enhancement, calculated an offense level of 28 and criminal history category V, yielding a Guidelines range of 84–105 months, and sentenced Hayes to 94 months.
Hayes appealed, challenging (1) the applicability of the serial-number enhancement and (2) the assessment of three criminal-history points for a 2003 Illinois conviction for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

Issue	Hayes' Argument	Government/Respondent's Argument	Held
Whether a serial number covered by a paint-like substance is "altered or obliterated" under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(4)(B)	Coverage that only masked the number (not physically destroyed) is not an "altered or obliterated" serial number	Covering a serial number with a substance that requires chemical removal materially changes it and makes accurate information less accessible, so the enhancement applies	Enhancement applies: serial number covered by paint-like substance is "altered or obliterated"
Whether district court erred in adding 3 criminal-history points for a prior conviction under an Illinois statute later held unconstitutional	Points based on that conviction are improper because the statute has been judicially invalidated	The conviction should not be counted; Guidelines instruct to exclude convictions later ruled unconstitutional	Error: assessment of criminal-history points was improper; plain-error review requires resentencing

United States v. Carter, 421 F.3d 909 (9th Cir. 2005) (defines relevance of defacement degree; supports enhancement where tracing is made more difficult)
United States v. Perez, 585 F.3d 880 (5th Cir. 2009) (holds serial number "altered or obliterated" if materially changed so information is less accessible)
United States v. Jones, 643 F.3d 257 (8th Cir. 2011) (same interpretive framework on serial-number defacement)
United States v. Salinas, [citation="462 F. App'x 635"] (7th Cir. 2012) (unpublished) (held filing off a serial number rendered it "altered or obliterated" because unreadable to the naked eye)
Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d 933 (7th Cir. 2012) (addressed constitutionality of Illinois weapons statute)
Jenkins v. United States, 772 F.3d 1092 (7th Cir. 2014) (convictions under statutes later invalidated should not be counted in Guidelines criminal-history computation)
United States v. Brown, 865 F.3d 566 (7th Cir. 2017) (discusses plain-error review for unobjected-to Guidelines calculation errors)