Steven Cowan v. United States

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Steven Cowan v. United States, 698 F. App'x 855 (8th Cir. 2017)

Steven Cowan v. United States

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Federal prisoner Steven Cowan, who pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, appeals the district court’s 1 order denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion that challenged his sentence under Johnson v. United States, 576 U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015) (invalidating residual clause of Armed Career Criminal Act as unconstitutionally vague); Cowan specifically challenged his increased base offense level under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1. Upon de novo review, we find that the district court properly denied relief, because Cowan’s sentence was calculated under the advisory Guidelines, which are not subject to void-for-vagueness challenges. See Beckles v. United States, 580 U.S. -, 137 S.Ct. 886, 895, 197 L.Ed.2d 145 (2017). Accordingly, we affirm. We also grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.

1

. The Honorable Greg Kays, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Reference

Full Case Name
Steven S. COWAN, Movant-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent-Appellee
Status
Unpublished