Third Circuit requires two predicate offenses to impose two 924(c) mandatories

The Third Circuit has a long discussion in US v. Diaz, No. No. 08-4088 (3d Cir. Jan. 14, 2010) (available here), of an interesting issue in the application of the mandatory minimum consecutive sentencing terms for two consecutive terms of 120 months for two § 924(c) convictions.  The ruling covers a lot of case law on the way to concluding that “a defendant who uses multiple firearms in relation to a single drug-trafficking crime may be charged with only one violation of § 924(c)(1).” Here is how the Diaz ruling sums up its determination:

For the reasons set forth, we will vacate one of Diaz’s two § 924(c) convictions and remand to the District Court for resentencing.... As the Supreme Court stated in Bass, 404 U.S. at 348, “because of the seriousness of criminal penalties, and because criminal punishment usually represents the moral condemnation of the community, legislatures and not courts should define criminal activity. . . . [t]hus, where there is ambiguity in a criminal statute, doubts are resolved in favor of the defendant.”