In prosecution on firearm and drug charges, defendant waived any objection to Dist. Ct.’s denial of his motion to suppress seizure of drugs and firearms, where defendant entered into unconditional guilty plea in open court, since entry of unconditional guilty plea in open court waives all non-jurisdictional defects arising prior to entry of guilty plea. Moreover, while prior to entry of said plea, defendant submitted pro se letter to court, indicating that he wished to “reserve all [his] appeals,” such letter did not contain reservation of any specific pretrial motion or contain consent of government and Dist. Ct. to accept any conditional guilty plea as required by Rule 11(a)(2), However, defendant was entitled to remand for new sentencing hearing, where Dist. Ct. based enhanced sentence on two state court convictions, one of which (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(2)) did not qualify as “felony drug offense” under Ruth, 966 F.3d 642.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Search and Seizure