Case ID: f-appx_709/html/0934-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "PER CURIAM:", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Aneuri MANZUETA, Defendant-Appellant.
    No. 17-10564 Non-Argument Calendar
    United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.
    (September 14, 2017)
    Carol Herman, Nicole D. Mariani, Wi-fredo A. Ferrer, Laura Thomas Rivero, Emily M. Smachetti, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Miami, FL, Bruce Brown, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Plaintiff-Appellee
    Robert N. Berube, Robin J. Farnsworth, Federal Public Defender’s Office, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Michael Caruso, Federal Public Defender, Federal Public Defender’s Office, Miami, FL, for Defendant-Appellant
    Before WILLIAM PRYOR, JORDAN and ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judges.
   PER CURIAM:

Aneuri Manzueta appeals his sentence of 262 months of imprisonment, following his plea of guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), 846. Manzueta challenges his classification as a career offender under the Sentencing Guidelines on the ground that his conviction in a New York court for attempted second-degree robbery does not qualify as a crime of violence. We affirm.

We review de novo the classification of a defendant as a career offender under the Guidelines. United States v. Gibson, 434 F.3d 1234, 1243 (11th Cir. 2006). We also review de novo whether a prior conviction qualifies as a crime of violence. United States v. Estrada, 111 F.3d 1318, 1321 (11th Cir. 2015).

To qualify as a career offender, Manzueta must have two prior felony convictions for a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense. United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 4B1.1 (Nov. 2016). A crime of violence consists of any offense under federal or state law, punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another person or that is murder, voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, aggravated assault, a forcible sex offense, ro&ery, arson, extortion, or the use or unlawful possession of a firearm or explosive material. Id. § 4B1.2(a). A crime of violence includes the offenses of aiding and abetting, conspiring, and attempting to commit such offenses. Id. § 4B1.2 cmt. n.1.

Under New York law, “[a] person is guilty of robbery in the second degree when he forcibly steals property.” N.Y. Penal Law § 160.10. “Robbery is forcible stealing” and occurs “when, in the course of committing a larceny, a person uses or threatens the immediate use of physical force [ ]on another person for the purpose of ... [preventing or overcoming resistance to the taking of the property or to [its] retention” or for the purpose of “[compelling the owner of such property or another person to deliver up the property or to engage in other conduct which aids in the commission of the larceny.” Id. § 160.00.

The district court did. not err in counting Manzueta’s prior conviction for attempted second-degree robbery as a crime of violence. Second-degree robbery as defined in the New York Penal law qualifies as a crime of violence under the elements and enumerated clauses of Guidelines. The offense requires as an element that the defendant use or threaten the use of physical force against another person. See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(1); United States v. Lockley, 632 F.3d 1238, 1243-45 (11th Cir. 2011). Robbery also is an enumerated offense. U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(2). And because the commentary to the guideline states that an attempt to commit a “crime of violence” is a “crime of violence,” Manzueta’s attempted robbery conviction qualifies categorically as' a predicate for the career offender, enhancement. Id. § 4B1.2 cmt. n.1; Lockley, 632 F.3d at 1245. Furthermore, the Second Circuit has held in at least two unpublished decisions that a conviction under Section 160.10 constitutes a crime of violence. See United States v. Kornegay, 641 Fed.Appx. 79, 85 (2d Cir. 2016); United States v. Garcia, 57 Fed.Appx. 486, 492 (2d Cir. 2003).

We AFFIRM Manzueta’s sentence.