UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.  No. 02-4396

JOSEPH EDWARD JEFFERSON,

Defendant-Appellant. 

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the District of South Carolina, at Charleston.

David C. Norton, District Judge.

(CR-01-933-2)

Submitted: December 23, 2002

Decided: January 15, 2003

Before WILKINS, LUTTIG, and KING, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. 

COUNSEL

Parks N. Small, Federal Public Defender, Columbia, South Carolina,

for Appellant. J. Strom Thurmond, Jr., United States Attorney, Sean

Kittrell, Assistant United States Attorney, Charleston, South Carolina,

for Appellee. 

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c). 
OPINION

PER CURIAM: 

Joseph Edward Jefferson pled guilty to possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (2000) (Count Two),

possession of 5-50 grams of crack cocaine with intent to distribute,

21 U.S.C. § 841(a), (b)(1)(B) (2000) (Count Three), and possession

of a firearm by a convicted felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) (2000) (Count

Four). He received a sentence of 135 months on Count Three, a concurrent sentence of 120 months (the statutory maximum) on Count

Four, and a 60-month consecutive sentence on Count Two. Jefferson

appeals his sentence, contesting the district court’s calculation of the

offense level for Count Four on two grounds. Because he did not raise

either of these issues in the district court, our review is for plain error.

United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 73237 (1993) (unpreserved

error may be corrected only if error occurred, that was plain, and that

affects substantial rights, and failure to correct error would seriously

affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings); United States v. McAllister, 272 F.3d 228, 230 (4th Cir. 2001).

On May 15, 2001, Jefferson drove away from a traffic stop and was

pursued by the police officer. Jefferson stopped his vehicle and ran

behind a residence. As the officer followed him through the back

yard, Jefferson paused at the fence and pointed a gun at him. At the

officer’s order, Jefferson dropped his gun, but again fled and escaped.

The gun proved to be a Bersa .380 caliber pistol, loaded and with a

round chambered. In a search of Jefferson’s vehicle, police officers

found twenty-six grams of crack. This conduct was the basis for

Counts Two and Three. 

On July 11, 2001, after receiving a tip that Jefferson was on the

porch of a certain house, the police approached. Jefferson ran into the

back yard, where he was confronted by more police officers. He then

ran to the fence on the side of the yard, pulling an object from under

his shirt and dropping it as he ran. Jefferson went over the fence into

the next yard, but was quickly captured. In the spot where Jefferson

had dropped the object, the officers found a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol with a round chambered and an ammunition clip nearby. This conduct was the basis for Count Four. 

2 UNITED STATES v. JEFFERSON
In the presentence report, the recommended base offense level for

Count Four was 26, which applies when the offense involves "a firearm described in 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a) or 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(30)," and

the defendant has two prior felony convictions for either a crime of

violence or a drug offense. USSG § 2K2.1(a)(1). The probation officer also recommended another two-level adjustment for reckless

endangerment during flight, § 3C1.2, which yielded an offense level

of 28. Without objection from Jefferson, the district court adopted

these recommendations. 

On appeal, Jefferson first contends that the district court plainly

erred in applying the enhanced base offense level in § 2K2.1(a)(1)

because the firearm he possessed on July 11 is not one of those specified in the guideline. The government concedes that the 9 mm Taurus

semiautomatic pistol that Jefferson possessed on July 11, 2001, is not

described in 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a) or 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(30) and that

the district court should have applied base offense level 24 under

§ 2K2.1(a)(2). The parties agree that the error, while plain, should not

require resentencing unless we also conclude that the reckless endangerment adjustment on Count Four was plain error. This is so

because, if the correct offense level for Count Four is 26, it is still

within four levels of the offense level for Count Three. Therefore, two

units would still be added under § 3D1.4 and the combined adjusted

offense level for both counts would remain at 32. 

We cannot conclude that the adjustment for reckless endangerment

on Count Four was plain error. A two-level adjustment is provided

under USSG § 3C1.2 for conduct that "recklessly created a substantial

risk of death or serious bodily injury to another person" while fleeing

from a law enforcement officer. Application Note 2 adopts the definition of "reckless" in Application Note 1 to USSG § 2A1.4, that is, that

the defendant "was aware of the risk created by his conduct and the

risk was of such a nature and degree that to disregard that risk constituted a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in such a situation." 

Jefferson argues that his conduct on July 11 constituted mere flight

and did not create a threat to any person because he did not display

or point the gun at anyone; he posits that merely carrying a gun does

not constitute reckless endangerment. He is correct to that extent.

UNITED STATES v. JEFFERSON 3
However, Jefferson did more than carry a firearm on July 11. While

he was fleeing from the officers, he threw down his gun, which was

loaded, had a round chambered, and was ready to fire. There was a

risk that the pistol would discharge accidentally when dropped which

created a substantial risk of injury to the pursuing officers. In addition, had the officers not found the gun, it would have constituted a

substantial risk of injury to the community. Consequently, we conclude that the district court did not plainly err in accepting the probation officer’s recommendation that the adjustment applied on Count

Four. 

We therefore affirm the sentence imposed by the district court. We

dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions

are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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