Sorrell v. United States, No. 21-1779 (6th Cir. 2023)
Annotate this Case
Motorcycle gang members Nicholson and Sorrell were charged with conspiracy and aiding and abetting assault under the Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) statute. The district court instructed the jury that either of those two offenses could serve as a predicate offense for another count involving the use or carrying of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. 924(c). The jury convicted both men on those three counts and the convictions were affirmed. The jury did not explicitly answer which predicate offense met 924(c)’s crime-of-violence requirement
The Sixth Circuit affirmed the denial of their 28 U.S.C. 2255, motions to vacate their section 924(c) convictions. The 924(c) convictions rested on a valid predicate offense. While a VICAR conspiracy is not a crime of violence, a VICAR aiding-and-abetting assault with a dangerous weapon is because an element of the offense requires a finding of the use or threatened use of physical force. The jury was improperly instructed that it could base convictions for the 924(c) count solely on a conviction for VICAR] conspiracy but the error was harmless.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.