Opinion ID: 182826
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Brandishing

Text: Based on its finding that Lindsey brandished a firearm during the robbery, the district court imposed a seven-year mandatory minimum consecutive sentence. Lindsey argues that brandishing is an offense element to be proven by a jury, rather than a sentencing factor within the judge's purview. The Supreme Court recently reaffirmed, however, that enhancements for brandishing or discharging a firearm are sentencing factors to be found by a judge. United States v. O'Brien, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 2169, 2179, 176 L.Ed.2d 979 (2010) (citations omitted). The district court properly treated brandishing as a sentencing factor rather than as an element of the offense.