United States of America v. Robert Orvaets

Cleveland, Ohio criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with felon in possession of fiarearm and ammunition.



Robert Oravets committed a series of serious felonies. He claims that the Second Amendment nonetheless protects his right to possess a firearm.



Six years ago, Ohio indicted Oravets on two counts of drug trafficking with a firearm. Prosecutors dropped the firearm specification when Oravets agreed to plead guilty. This was not his first brush with the law. Oravets' criminal record also included felony breaking and entering, receiving stolen property, and possessing a firearm as a felon. One way or another, Oravets has been in trouble with the law for almost a third of his life. On March 22, 2023, while still on parole for the trafficking offenses, detectives from North Ridgeville, Ohio, visited his home. They were looking for a gun and they found one, loaded and with an extended magazine nearby. Officers separately obtained videos of Oravets holding a pistol while seated in a car and firing a pistol at an indoor shooting range. That was a problem for

Oravets, whose four felony convictions barred him from possessing a gun.



A federal grand jury indicted Oravets for possessing a firearm as a felon. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). That statute makes it "unlawful for any person . . . who has been convicted” "of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year . . . to possess . . . any firearm or ammunition” that has been transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Arguing that § 922(g)(1) violates the Second Amendment, Oravets moved to dismiss the indictment. The district court denied the motion. Oravets pleaded guilty, and the district court accepted his plea. The court imposed a 92-month sentence, at the bottom of the guidelines range.

The Defendant 92 months of imprisonment; 3 years of supervised release; $100 special assessment; forfeiture ordered; fine waived for inability to pay.



The defendant claimed that the Second Amendment nonetheless protects his right to possess a firearm.



Affirmed