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Cite as:  599 U. S. ____ (2023) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
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SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 22–49 
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EFRAIN LORA, PETITIONER v. UNITED STATES 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT 

[June 16, 2023] 

JUSTICE JACKSON delivered the opinion of the Court. 
When a federal court imposes multiple prison sentences, 
it can typically choose whether to run the sentences concur-
rently or consecutively.  See 18 U. S. C. §3584.  An excep-
tion exists in subsection (c) of §924, which provides that “no
term of imprisonment imposed on a person under this sub-
section shall run concurrently  with any other term of im-
prisonment.”  §924(c)(1)(D)(ii).

In this case, we consider whether §924(c)’s bar on concur-
rent sentences extends to a sentence imposed under a dif-
ferent subsection: §924(j).  We hold that it does not.  A sen-
tence  for  a  §924(j)  conviction  therefore  can  run  either 
concurrently with or consecutively to another sentence. 

I 

In 2002, members of a drug-dealing group from the Bronx 
assassinated a rival drug dealer.  The Government accused 
petitioner  Efrain  Lora  of  being  one  of  the  group’s  leaders 
and acting as a scout during the fatal shooting.  After a jury
trial, Lora was convicted of aiding and abetting a violation 
of §924(j)(1), which penalizes “[a] person who, in the course
of a violation of subsection (c), causes the death of a person