“A weapon’s proximity to narcotics may be sufficient to provide the nexus necessary to enhance a defendant’s sentence”

That’s the legal precedent cited by the U.S. Court of Appeals in rejecting Isaac Serrano’s appeal. Mr. Serrano’s lawyer argued that the guns found in his client’s Ogden, Utah home had nothing to do with his coke dealing. Therefore, their discovery shouldn’t ratchet up his sentence for purveying nose candy. There’s some funny stuff here, relative to a handgun that couldn’t possibly have had anything to do with a criminal enterprise—because it was falling apart. “Mr. Serrano notes that the weapons’ ‘diminutive size and poor functioning condition’ suggested little utility as a tool for either intimidating customers or protecting himself. He points out that rifles are more typically associated with hunting.” IGB (It Gets Better).

And, Mr. Serrano argues that although Ms. MacFarland [a witness who claims Serrano stuck a gun in her ribs] testified about a semi-automatic weapon, the officers found no such weapon. As to the handgun, Mr. Serrano notes that it ‘fell apart’ when his expert picked it up, indicating that it would serve as a poor weapon with which to intimidate a customer or rival. Additionally, the government’s expert testified that one could only fire the gun by holding the cylinder manually in place.

Yes, well, Serrano was a felon. He shouldn’t have had ANY guns in his abode. And check out the list of weaponry and goodies found at Serrano’s house by the police:

In the living room:

• a black digital scale
• a box of .22 caliber bullets in a drawer
• plastic baggies
• a white powdery substance with a spoon on a plate

In the southeast bedroom:

• $1,050 in U.S. currency
• a Remington .270 rifle
• a pill bottle with a white powdery residue with the name Isaac Serrano on it
• a Browning 16-gauge shotgun
• numerous pill bottles with the name Isaac Serrano on them
• a box of Remington .270 bullets
• two pill bottles with the names Teressa Garcia and Teressa Errano on them
• a box of .357 Winchester bullets
• a box of American Eagle 9 mm bullets
• a box of .45 caliber bullets

In the northeast bedroom:

• a Jennings .22 caliber rifle
• a loaded gun clip
• a box of .357 magnum bullets
• a box of .22 caliber bullets

In the northwest bedroom:

• a Remington 870 20-gauge shotgun
• plastic baggies
• a small spoon

In the middle east bedroom closet:

• a box of shotgun shells