United States v. Ralph Garcia, 37 F.4th 1294

From Nov 2014 to Mar 2015 an ATF confidential informant (CI) purchased methamphetamine (multiple ounces) and a Taurus .38 revolver from Ralph Garcia; meetings were recorded and monitored.
Garcia, a leading member of the Joliet Latin Kings, was indicted on three counts of distributing ≥50 grams meth, two counts of distributing ≥5 grams meth, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
By consent Garcia had a bench trial; the district court allowed an entrapment defense to be presented but found, after trial, that the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt Garcia was not entrapped and that he was predisposed.
The PSR calculated a total offense level of 35 (Guidelines 292–365 months), in part by treating prior violent-felony convictions as qualifying under U.S.S.G. §2K2.1(a)(2); the PSR also applied the 15‑year mandatory minimum under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. §924(e).
The district court adopted the PSR but sentenced Garcia to 210 months (below the Guidelines range). Garcia appealed, challenging (1) the sufficiency of the evidence on entrapment, (2) the ACCA enhancement, and (3) the offense-level calculation.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the conviction and the ACCA determination but agreed that the PSR misapplied §2K2.1 by counting priors that received no criminal-history points; the court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing with a corrected Guidelines calculation.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt Garcia was not entrapped	Garcia: CI exploited friendship and repeated requests induced him to commit the crimes	Government: recordings and transactions show Garcia was ready, willing, knowledgeable, and profited—no exploitation or coercion	Affirmed: trier of fact found no inducement and predisposition proven beyond a reasonable doubt
Whether Garcia was subject to the ACCA 15-year mandatory minimum given the 1993 Illinois aggravated-battery-with-firearm conviction	Garcia: PSR failed to cite the Illinois statute, so conviction’s status as a violent felony is infirm	Government: certified record shows a 1992/1993 conviction under the Illinois aggravated-battery-with-firearm statute, which is categorically a violent felony	Affirmed: conviction qualifies as a violent felony and ACCA applies; no plain error shown
Whether the PSR plainly erred in calculating the firearm offense level by relying on prior convictions that received no criminal-history points	Garcia: PSR misapplied §2K2.1 and overstated base offense level, inflating Guidelines range	Government: concedes the PSR miscalculated; Application Note 10 limits priors considered to those receiving criminal-history points	Held: Vacated sentence and remanded for resentencing—firearm base level should have been lower (20 → plus enhancements), reducing final Guidelines level from 35 to 34 and changing the Guidelines range

United States v. Mayfield, 771 F.3d 417 (7th Cir. 2014) (en banc) (defines entrapment elements and burden-shifting; inducement vs. predisposition)
United States v. McGill, 754 F.3d 452 (7th Cir. 2014) (government exploitation of friendship can be inducement)
Mathis v. United States, 579 U.S. 500 (2016) (categorical approach for assessing whether prior conviction qualifies as predicate)
Borden v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 1817 (2021) (state-of-mind requirements relevant to violent-felony analysis)
United States v. Theodosopoulos, 48 F.3d 1438 (7th Cir. 1995) (standard for sufficiency review when trier of fact rejects entrapment)
United States v. Stallworth, 656 F.3d 721 (7th Cir. 2011) (lists factors for predisposition inquiry; reluctance is most important)
United States v. Johnson, 32 F.3d 304 (7th Cir. 1994) (knowledge of drug trade and pricing supports predisposition)