Muscarello v. United States

524 U.S. 125 (1998)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Federal criminal code imposes a 5-year mandatory prison term upon a person who 'uses or carries a firearm' 'during and in relation to' a 'drug trafficking crime.' Muscarello (D), unlawfully sold marijuana, which he carried in his truck. Police officers found a handgun locked in the truck's glove compartment. D admitted that he had 'carried' the gun 'for protection in relation' to the drug offense. He later recanted this admission and claimed that his 'carrying' of the gun in the glove compartment did not fall within the scope of the statutory word 'carries.' In the second case, Donald Cleveland and Enrique Gray-Santana (Ds), placed several guns in a bag, put the bag in the trunk of a car, and then traveled by car to a proposed drug-sale point, where they intended to steal drugs from the sellers. Federal agents at the scene stopped them, searched the cars, found the guns and drugs, and arrested them. Ds were convicted, and the Courts of Appeals found that each had 'carried' the guns during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.