UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT 

No. 08-4490

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff – Appellee, 

 v. 

MATTHEW ALWAN SHELTON, 

 Defendant – Appellant. 

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern 

District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Terrence W. Boyle, 

District Judge. (5:07-cr-00335-BO-1) 

Submitted: January 29, 2009 Decided: March 16, 2009 

Before MOTZ and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior 

Circuit Judge. 

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. 

Thomas P. McNamara, Federal Public Defender, Stephen C. Gordon, 

Assistant Federal Public Defender, Raleigh, North Carolina, for 

Appellant. George E. B. Holding, United States Attorney, Anne 

M. Hayes, Jennifer P. May-Parker, Assistant United States 

Attorneys, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee. 

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. 
PER CURIAM: 

 Matthew Alwan Shelton pled guilty to manufacturing 

counterfeit currency, 18 U.S.C. § 471 (2006) (Count 1); 

possession of counterfeit currency, 18 U.S.C. § 472 (2006) 

(Count 2); and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, 18 

U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (2006) (Count 3), and was sentenced to a term 

of fifty-seven months imprisonment. Shelton appeals his 

sentence, contending that the district court erred in making a 

4-level increase for use of the firearm in connection with 

another felony, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 2K2.1(b)(6) 

(2007). We affirm. 

 Shelton was arrested in September 2007 after a stolen 

car was traced to him. He consented to a search of the motel 

room where he and his girlfriend were staying. The search 

yielded two loaded handguns, a digital scale, thirteen grams of 

marijuana, plastic baggies, and one dose of Ecstasy. In the 

stolen vehicle, police found another digital scale, marijuana 

residue, and a counterfeit $100 bill. At Shelton’s former 

residence, police found a printer/copier/scanner and evidence of 

the counterfeiting of $100 bills. Shelton admitted that he 

owned one of the guns and that the other belonged to a friend. 

Shelton said he bought the gun for protection in July 2007, the 

same month he began manufacturing counterfeit currency. He said 

he and a friend known as Banga manufactured about $100,000 worth 

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of counterfeit currency in two months, and gave over $15,000 in 

counterfeit currency to William Jefferson. A week earlier, 

Jefferson had been arrested after he tried to sell $10,000 in 

counterfeit currency to an undercover agent for five ounces of 

cocaine. Shelton said the drugs in his possession were for 

personal use only, but that he had been planning to use 

counterfeit money to buy Ecstasy. 

 The enhancement applies if a defendant “used or 

possessed any firearm or ammunition in connection with another 

felony offense.” Application Note 14(A) to § 2K2.1 states that 

subsection (b)(6) applies “if the firearm . . . facilitated, or 

had the potential of facilitating, another felony offense 

. . . .”* Although the “in connection with” requirement is not 

satisfied when the firearm is present merely by accident or 

coincidence, United States v. Blount, 337 F.3d 404, 411 (4th 

Cir. 2003), facilitation is shown if the gun “was present for 

protection or to embolden the actor.” United States v. Lipford, 

203 F.3d 259, 266 (4th Cir. 2000) (interpreting § 924(c)). In 

the presentence report, the probation officer recommended an 

 *

 Application Note 14(B) further provides that, “in the case 

of a drug trafficking offense in which a firearm is found in 

close proximity to drugs, drug-manufacturing materials, or drug 

paraphernalia[,]” application of subsection (b)(6) “is warranted 

because the presence of the firearm has the potential of 

facilitating another felony offense . . . .” (emphasis added).

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enhancement under subsection (b)(6) for possession of a firearm 

“in furtherance of the counterfeiting offense and in connection 

with the felonious possession of ecstasy.” Shelton argued 

unsuccessfully at sentencing that the government had not shown 

any connection between the gun and his counterfeiting and that 

the presence of the Ecstasy pill in his backpack with the gun 

was coincidental because he had all his belongings in the 

backpack. 

 The district court’s determination that a defendant 

possessed a firearm in connection with another felony offense is 

a factual question, United States v. Garnett, 243 F.3d 824, 829 

(4th Cir. 2001), and is thus reviewed for clear error. United 

States v. Osborne, 514 F.3d 377, 387 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 

128 S. Ct. 2525 (2008). In light of Shelton’s admission that he 

bought a gun for protection around the time he began 

counterfeiting, and that he intended to buy Ecstasy with 

counterfeit money, we are satisfied that the court did not 

clearly err. As the district court noted, buying drugs with 

counterfeit money is an inherently dangerous activity. 

Possession of a firearm had the potential to embolden Shelton 

and thus facilitated both his counterfeiting activity and his 

possession of drugs. 

 Accordingly, we affirm the sentence. We dispense with 

oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are 

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adequately presented in the materials before the court and 

argument would not aid the decisional process. 

AFFIRMED