Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-08-01880/USCOURTS-ca8-08-01880-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Christopher Adrian Jones
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 08-1880

___________

United States of America, *

*

Plaintiff - Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* Eastern District of Arkansas.

Christopher Adrian Jones, *

* UNPUBLISHED

Defendant - Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: April 13, 2010

 Filed: July19, 2010

___________

Before LOKEN, HANSEN, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Christopher Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interrupt interstate commerce

by robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. See 18 U.S.C.

§§ 1951, 924(c)(1)(A)(ii). We reversed his mandatory life sentence under 18 U.S.C.

§ 3559(c) and remanded for resentencing because one prior robbery conviction did not

involve use or threatened use of a dangerous weapon or result in serious bodily injury

and thus was a nonqualifying felony under § 3559(c)(3)(A). United States v. Jones,

256 F. App’x 850 (8th Cir. 2007) (unpublished). On remand, Jones argued he should

not be resentenced as a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 because this robbery

conviction was not a crime of violence under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2.

Appellate Case: 08-1880 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/19/2010 Entry ID: 3684660
1

The HONORABLE JAMES M. MOODY, United States District Judge for the

Eastern District of Arkansas.

-2-

Although Jones stipulated he was a career offender in the plea agreement, the

district court1

 took up this issue on the merits and concluded that Jones is a career

offender. Jones objected to the career offender ruling, which resulted in an advisory

guidelines range of 262-327 months in prison, and, alternatively, urged the court to

sentence him at the bottom of that range. The government urged a sentence at the top

of the range. The court sentenced Jones to 300 months in prison. He appeals. 

On appeal, Jones argues that the district court erred in sentencing him as a

career offender because this 1994 robbery conviction was not a crime of violence

under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2. We disagree. The district court correctly ruled that robbery

is specifically included in the crimes of violence listed in U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2, comment.

(n.1), and that a robbery specifically enumerated in § 4B1.2 is a crime of violence for

career offender purposes even if it is not a qualifying serious violent felony under

§ 3559(c)(3)(A). See United States v. Dobbs, 449 F.3d 904, 913 (8th Cir. 2006), cert.

denied, 549 U.S. 1139 & 1233 (2007). The court also correctly ruled that Jones’s two

1994 robbery convictions were separate crimes of violence because they were

separated by an intervening arrest. See U.S.S.G. §§ 4A1.1(a), 4A1.2(a)(2), 4B1.2(c),

App. C Amendment 709; United States v. McKay, 431 F.3d 1085, 1095 (8th Cir.

2005), cert. denied, 547 U.S. 1174 (2006).

Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.

______________________________

Appellate Case: 08-1880 Page: 2 Date Filed: 07/19/2010 Entry ID: 3684660