U.S. v. Campbell

Defendant pleaded guilty to possession of stolen firearms and was sentenced to 96 months in prison. Defendant appealed from the trial court’s judgment, arguing that the trial court’s comments during sentencing indicating that stolen but missing firearms were likely in the hands of other felons amounted to impermissible speculation. The appellate court affirmed, finding that after reviewing the sentencing transcript there was no reason to believe that the district court intended its final remarks to be literal statements of fact to support the sentence imposed. (EASTERBROOK and SCUDDER, concurring)