Cite as: 508 U. S. 129 (1993)
Stevens, J., dissenting
statute, see supra, evaporates if we assume that sentencing judges are gifted with enough common sense to understand that they may, upon entry of a second final judgment, enhance the sentence incorporated therein. In any event, the majority's conclusion that a "second or subsequent conviction" is a finding of guilt leaves unanswered the question dispositive here: whether that second conviction (finding of guilt or entry of judgment) is subject to enhancement if it is not for an offense committed after a prior conviction has become final.
The Court finds additional support for its conclusion in the fact that at least some contrary readings of § 924(c) would "give a prosecutor unreviewable discretion either to impose or to waive the enhanced sentencing provisions" through the manner in which she charged a crime or crimes. Ante, at 133. I have already pointed out that the majority's particular concern is not implicated if § 924(c) is treated as a straightforward recidivist provision, supra, at 142-143; under that construction, a defendant who commits a second § 924(c) offense before trial on the first would not be eligible for sentence enhancement whether the two counts were tried separately or together. I would add only that the Court's alternative reading does not solve the broader problem it identifies. As the Government concedes, see Tr. of Oral Arg. 31-32, prosecutors will continue to enjoy considerable discretion in deciding how many § 924(c) offenses to charge in relation to a criminal transaction or series of transactions. An armed defendant who robs a bank and, at the same time, assaults a guard, may be subject to one or two § 924(c) charges; the choice is the prosecutor's, and the consequence, under today's holding, the difference between a 5- and a 15-year enhancement. Cf. United States v. Jim, 865 F. 2d, at 212 (defendant charged with three counts under § 924(c), each arising from the same criminal episode); United States v. Fontanilla, 849 F. 2d, at 1257 (same).
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