United States v. Zerion Franklin

Summary

The court vacated Franklin’s 48-month sentence because the district court applied a firearm enhancement without making factual findings connecting the firearm to either the theft or stolen-mail possession offenses. The court held that the enhancement requires the firearm to have facilitated, or had the potential to facilitate, the offense, and that the unpreserved error was plain, affected Franklin’s substantial rights, and seriously implicated the fairness of the proceedings. The case was remanded for resentencing and additional fact-finding.