A federal jury has convicted a Memphis man of illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, a verdict that exposes him to a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison because of his history of violent crime. Carroll Mobley was found guilty following a two-day trial in Memphis federal court, and he is expected to be sentenced on December 4, 2026.
The case traces back to May 2, 2024, when the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division executed a search warrant at a Memphis home. According to court evidence cited by WREG.com, detectives found a firearm belonging to Mobley in a bedroom closet, along with cocaine and digital scales bearing cocaine residue. The U.S. Department of Justice identified the weapon recovered from the closet as an HK 9mm handgun, and said the trial was presided over by U.S. Chief District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman.
The trial itself unfolded in two distinct phases. In the first, jurors weighed the evidence tied to the firearm found in Mobley’s closet. In the second, they were tasked specifically with evaluating his prior criminal record, ultimately finding beyond a reasonable doubt that Mobley had been convicted of three violent felonies committed on separate occasions, according to the Justice Department.
Why the Trial Needed a Second Phase
That bifurcated structure exists because of a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In *Erlinger v. United States*, the Court held that the Sixth Amendment requires a jury — not a judge — to determine beyond a reasonable doubt whether a defendant’s prior convictions occurred on separate occasions before triggering the enhanced penalties under the Armed Career Criminal Act, as reported by Courthouse News Service. That shift moved a key sentencing determination out of judges’ hands and into jurors’, which is why Mobley’s case required its second phase focused solely on his past record…