United States of of America v. Stafford

Order BEFORE: EDWARDS, ENGEL and MERRITT, Circuit Judges Appellant Charles Ott Stafford was convicted of knowingly concealing, transporting, storing and disposing of stolen explosives, 18 U.S.C. § 842(h), and was sentenced to five years in prison. That conviction was affirmed in United States v. Stafford, 495 F.2d 1374 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 852 (1974). Stafford later moved to vacate his sentence, 28 U.S.C. § 2255, claiming that in imposing it, the trial court had enhanced the sentence by considering several invalid prior convictions, in violation of United States v. Tucker, 404 U.S. 443 (1972). In a careful opinion filed September 29, 1977, United States District Judge H. David Hermansdorfer reviewed the record before him and concluded that, even assuming that the prior convictions were invalid, as asserted, the sentence of five years imposed was nevertheless appropriate and was fair, just, and equitable and fully supported by the record.