United States v. Karen Zais, 711 F. App'x 338

Karen Zais and Andrew Nelson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ≥500 grams of methamphetamine based on large-scale distribution from their rural 148-acre property (Jan–Jun 2014).
Law enforcement searched the home and seized >360 grams methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, a drug ledger, large cash transfers, and surveillance equipment monitoring outside the house.
Officers found three rifles (single-shot bolt-action .22, semiauto .22, and a .270 with scope) unloaded and with no ammunition; two rifles were leaning on the wall outside the basement “drug room” and one in the door frame to that room.
At sentencing the district court applied a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1) because a firearm was possessed in connection with the offense, finding it was not “clearly improbable” the rifles were connected to the drug conspiracy.
Defendants argued the rifles were unrelated (analogizing to a hunting rifle in a closet); the district court rejected this given proximity to the drug room, surveillance, and the large-scale operation.
The Seventh Circuit reviewed the factual finding for clear error and affirmed the enhancement, declining harmless-error analysis because the enhancement affects early-release eligibility.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the §2D1.1(b)(1) two-level weapons enhancement applies	Gov't: rifles found in close proximity to the drug room, surveillance, and cash/drugs make a connection plausible; enhancement appropriate	Zais/Nelson: rifles were unloaded, no ammunition, akin to an unrelated hunting rifle; clearly improbable they were connected	Affirmed: not clearly improbable; district court did not clearly err

United States v. Rogers, 777 F.3d 934 (7th Cir.) (Application Notes are part of the Guidelines)
United States v. Rollins, 544 F.3d 820 (7th Cir.) (defendant bears burden to show connection is clearly improbable)
United States v. Fife, 471 F.3d 750 (7th Cir.) (de novo review of Guidelines interpretation)
United States v. Perez, 581 F.3d 539 (7th Cir.) (weapons-connection finding is fact question reviewed for clear error)
United States v. Wade, 114 F.3d 103 (7th Cir.) (appellate review asks whether any record evidence supports the district court’s finding)
United States v. North, 900 F.2d 131 (8th Cir.) (example where guns found in bedroom were unrelated to drugs)
United States v. Are, 590 F.3d 499 (7th Cir.) (presumption of connection when gun found in close proximity to illegal drugs)
United States v. Wetwattana, 94 F.3d 280 (7th Cir.) (drug traffickers often use firearms for protection)
United States v. Paulk, 917 F.2d 879 (5th Cir.) (unloaded guns can serve as effective threats)
United States v. Hill, 645 F.3d 900 (7th Cir.) (harmless-error analysis when sentence unchanged by error)