Namir Greene gets sentenced to 10 years in prison for robbing a convenience store and a gas station during a three week period, but the Ninth Circuit finds plain error and remands for resentencing.
On Mr. Greene's side, the ten year sentence does seem quite a bit harsh, and Judge Christen's opinion explains that Mr. Greene had "promising high school academic performance and strong family support" plus acceptance of responsibility etc. I'm also not exactly sure why robbing a Shell station with a BB gun somehow persuaded the feds to get involved and charge the guy with a Hobbs Act violation. Usually this kinda stuff -- even with a carjacking -- is left to state courts, no?
On the other hand, while Judge Christen mentions a lot of things favorable to Mr. Greene, I did notice that he had a criminal history score of II -- though nowhere in the opinion is there any explanation of any prior criminal history. Maybe there's more at play here than meets the eye.
