Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-06-02134/USCOURTS-ca8-06-02134-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
William McCoy
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Richard E. Dorr, United States District Judge for the Western

District of Missouri.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 06-2134

___________

United States of America, *

*

Plaintiff - Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the Western

* District of Missouri.

William McCoy, *

* [UNPUBLISHED]

Defendant - Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: April 9, 2007

Filed: April 17, 2007

___________

Before MURPHY, BRIGHT, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

William McCoy pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, in

violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). Finding that McCoy qualified for

the sentence enhancement provided in the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), the

district court1

 sentenced him to 188 months in prison. See 18 U.S. C. § 924(e)(1)

(defendant who violates § 922(g)(1) and has 3 prior convictions for violent felonies

is subject to 15-year minimum sentence). On appeal, McCoy challenges the sentence

enhancement under the ACCA, arguing that the court erred in finding that his two

Appellate Case: 06-2134 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/17/2007 Entry ID: 3299698
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tampering convictions in Missouri were separate criminal episodes and violent

felonies.

We review a district court’s factual interpretations for clear error and its legal

conclusions de novo. See United States v. Turner, 431 F.3d 332, 337 (8th Cir. 2005),

cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 2345 (2006). “To qualify as predicate offenses under the

[ACCA], each conviction must be a separate and distinct criminal episode, rather than

part of a continuous course of conduct.” United States v. Deroo, 304 F.3d 824, 828

(8th Cir. 2002). Although McCoy’s tampering convictions involved the same victim

(Springfield Auto Auction), we conclude that the underlying criminal activity--cutting

a hole in a parking lot fence, stealing a car, and abandoning it, then returning the next

day through the same hole in the fence and stealing a truck--amounted to two discrete

criminal episodes. Cf. United States v. Washington, 898 F.2d 439, 442 (5th Cir.

1990) (two robberies committed against same convenience-store clerk within hours

were separate criminal episodes, and not crime spree). We further conclude that

McCoy’s convictions for tampering constitute violent felonies under section 924(e).

See United States v. Adams, 442 F.3d 645, 647 (8th Cir. 2006) (under controlling

precedent, Missouri conviction for tampering with motor vehicle by operation

qualifies as violent felony within meaning of § 924(e)), petition for cert. filed, (U.S.

Sept. 13, 2006 ) (No. 06-6541); United States v. Johnson, 471 F.3d 990, 999 (8th Cir.

2005). 

Accordingly, we affirm.

______________________________

Appellate Case: 06-2134 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/17/2007 Entry ID: 3299698