United States v. Mark Burge, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 13132

Burge’s llama abandonment conviction under Illinois law resulted in a $525 fine with no jail time.
Three years later Burge pled guilty to a federal marijuana possession offense carrying a mandatory minimum of ten years because of a prior drug felony.
The safety valve at 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) could have reduced the sentence if Burge had no more than one criminal history point.
The district court counted the llama conviction as one criminal history point, moving Burge to criminal history II and pushing the guideline range to 21–27 months, resulting in a ten-year sentence.
The appeal argued the llama conviction should not count under § 4A1.2(c); the court agreed it should be excluded and remanded for resentencing to apply § 4A1.2(c) and consider the safety valve.
The court also addressed plain-error review, noting the need to determine whether Burge truthfully provided information under § 3553(f)(5) on remand.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the llama conviction is excludable under § 4A1.2(c).	Burge argues the llama offense should not count.	Government argues for applying § 4A1.2(c) to determine similarity.	Yes; llama abandonment is sufficiently similar to listed offenses and should not be counted.
Whether the error in counting the llama conviction was plain and required remand.	N/A	N/A	Plain error; remand for resentencing and § 3553(f) consideration.

Custis v. United States, 511 U.S. 485 (1994) (collateral attacks on state convictions limited in sentencing)
Nichols v. United States, 511 U.S. 738 (1994) (uncounseled misdemeanors not leading to imprisonment counted; supports regularity presumption)
Garrett, 528 F.3d 525 (7th Cir. 2008) (plain error review for miscounted criminal history points)
Hoggard, 61 F.3d 540 (7th Cir. 1995) (applies Custis/Nichols framework in sentencing context)
Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005) (guidelines advisory; district courts must consult and consider guidelines)