296
Opinion of the Court
On appeal, petitioner contended in a pro se supplemental brief that even though the life sentences were concurrent, entering both convictions and sentences impermissibly punished him twice for the same offense. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit accepted the premise of his argument, namely, that the conspiracy charge was a lesser included offense of the CCE charge. 40 F. 3d 879, 886 (1994). The Court of Appeals nonetheless affirmed his convictions and sentences. Relying on its earlier decision in United States v. Bond, 847 F. 2d 1233, 1238 (1988), and our decision in Jeffers v. United States, 432 U. S. 137 (1977), it held that convictions and concurrent sentences may be imposed for conspiracy and CCE, "provided the cumulative punishment does not exceed the maximum under the CCE act." 40 F. 3d, at 886.
The decision of the Seventh Circuit is at odds with the
practice of other Circuits. Most federal courts that have confronted the question hold that only one judgment should be entered when a defendant is found guilty on both a CCE count and a conspiracy count based on the same agreements.4 The Second and Third Circuits have adopted an intermediate position, allowing judgment to be entered on both counts but permitting only one sentence rather than the concurrent sen-4 See, e. g., United States v. Rivera-Martinez, 931 F. 2d 148, 153 (CA1), cert. denied, 502 U. S. 862 (1991); United States v. Butler, 885 F. 2d 195, 202 (CA4 1989); United States v. Neal, 27 F. 3d 1035, 1054 (CA5 1994), cert. denied, 513 U. S. 1179 (1995); United States v. Paulino, 935 F. 2d 739, 751 (CA6 1991), cert. denied, 502 U. S. 1036 (1992); United States v. Pos-sick, 849 F. 2d 332, 341 (CA8 1988); United States v. Hernandez-Escarsega, 886 F. 2d 1560, 1582 (CA9 1989), cert. denied, 497 U. S. 1003 (1990); United States v. Stallings, 810 F. 2d 973, 976 (CA10 1989); United States v. Cruz, 805 F. 2d 1464, 1479 (CA11 1986), cert. denied, 481 U. S. 1006 (1987); United States v. Anderson, 39 F. 3d 331, 357 (CADC 1994), rev'd on other grounds, 59 F. 3d 1323 (CADC 1995) (en banc).
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