Zambrella v. United States

ARGUED NOVEMBER 5, 2002 On October 16, 2001, Defendant Taurus Zambrella was convicted by a jury of two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and one count of stealing firearms from a licensed business dealing in firearms, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(u) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. The district court sentenced Zambrella to 293 months in prison on the two felony in possession charges, and 120 months in prison on the theft of a firearm charge (sentence terms to run concurrently). Zambrella seeks reversal of his conviction on the basis that the trial court improperly denied him a Franks hearing to test the validity of the search warrant affidavit. Alternatively, Zambrella urges this court to remand his case for re-sentencing because the district court ""should have given [Zambrella] an additional opportunity to obtain transcripts of the [prior state] plea hearing...,"" which he claims would have allowed him to prove, prior to sentencing, ""that he [wa]s not an armed career criminal."" Zambrella's Br. at 21. We affirm.