Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-06-01407/USCOURTS-ca8-06-01407-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
William Edward Miller
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Ann D. Montgomery, United States District Judge for the

District of Minnesota. 

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 06-1407

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the 

* District of Minnesota. 

William Edward Miller, * 

* [UNPUBLISHED]

Appellant. * 

___________

Submitted: March 12, 2007

Filed: May 7, 2007

___________

Before COLLOTON, BEAM, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

William Miller appeals his conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm as

a previously convicted felon. He argues that the district court1

 erred in concluding

that he was an armed career criminal, subject to a statutory minimum sentence of

fifteen years’ imprisonment, see 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1), and by enhancing his advisory

guideline range based on his possession of a firearm in connection with another

felony, USSG § 2K2.1(b)(5) (Nov. 2005). We affirm.

Appellate Case: 06-1407 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/07/2007 Entry ID: 3306543
-2-

Miller pled guilty to unlawful possession of the handgun as a previouslyconvicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). He was charged after police

found a semi-automatic handgun in a stolen van that Miller was driving at the time of

a traffic accident. 

Prior to the instant offense, Miller had sustained three prior felony convictions

for theft of a motor vehicle, two for attempted theft of a vehicle, and two for

unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18

U.S.C. § 924(e)(1), a statutory minimum sentence of fifteen years’ imprisonment

applies if at least three of Miller’s prior convictions are “violent felonies” under 18

U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B). See United States v. Wilson, 406 F.3d 1074, 1076 (8th Cir.),

cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 292 (2005). Under our precedent, Miller’s three convictions

for auto theft qualify as violent felonies. Id.; United States v. Barbour, 395 F.3d 826,

827 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 133 (2005); United States v. Sun Bear, 307 F.3d

747, 753 (8th Cir. 2002). These decisions are not undermined by the Supreme Court’s

opinion in Leocal v. Ashcroft, 543 U.S. 1 (2004), which involved a materially different

statutory provision, see United States v. McCall, 439 F.3d 967, 971 (8th Cir. 2006)(en

banc); Barbour, 295 F.3d at 828, and our precedent, of course, is binding on this

panel. The district court thus properly classified Miller as an armed career criminal

and correctly applied the mandatory minimum term of 180 months’ imprisonment.

Because Miller was sentenced to the statutory minimum term of imprisonment,

a favorable ruling on the question whether he possessed a firearm in connection with

another felony could not reduce his sentence, so we need not consider the issue. The

judgment of the district court is affirmed.

 ______________________________

Appellate Case: 06-1407 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/07/2007 Entry ID: 3306543