2006 Decisions

Opinions of the United

States Court of Appeals

for the Third Circuit

3-23-2006

USA v. Hamani

Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential

Docket No. 05-2181

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Recommended Citation

"USA v. Hamani" (2006). 2006 Decisions. Paper 1393.

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NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

____________

No. 05-2181

____________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 v.

WALI S. HAMANI a/k/a

WALLACE J. CLEMONS

 Wali Hamani,

 Appellant

____________

On Appeal from the United States District Court

for the District of New Jersey

(D.C. No. 04-cr-00106)

District Judge: Honorable Robert B. Kugler

____________

Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)

February 14, 2006

Before: SCIRICA, Chief Judge, BARRY and FISHER, Circuit Judges.

(Filed: March 23, 2006)

____________

OPINION OF THE COURT

____________
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FISHER, Circuit Judge.

Wali Hamani pled guilty to one count of bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C.

§ 2113(a), and was sentenced by the District Court to a term of imprisonment of 180

months. The sentence was based, in part, on the District Court’s finding that Hamani

qualified as a career offender under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Hamani

argues on appeal that this determination must be made by a jury beyond a reasonable

doubt. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a), and

will affirm.

I.

On August 28, 2003, Hamani robbed the Fleet National Bank in Egg Harbor

Township, New Jersey. He entered the bank, placed a brown paper bag on the counter,

stated that he had a bomb, and demanded money. When the teller did not respond

immediately, Hamani reached over the counter and grabbed cash totaling $4,571.00, as

well as numerous checks. He was apprehended while fleeing the scene.

Hamani subsequently pled guilty to bank robbery, an offense that carries a

maximum sentence of twenty years imprisonment. See 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). In the plea

agreement, the parties stipulated that (1) the Guidelines prescribed a base offense level of

20, (2) Hamani was subject to a two-level increase because he took the property of a

financial institution, and (3) he was entitled to a two- or three-level reduction in his

offense level for acceptance of responsibility. The agreement did not address other
Under section 4B1.1, a defendant is subject to the career offender enhancement if: 1

(1) the defendant was at least eighteen years old at the time the defendant

committed the instant offense of conviction; (2) the instant offense of

conviction is a felony that is either a crime of violence or a controlled

substance offense; and (3) the defendant has at least two prior felony

convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense.

U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 4B1.1(a).

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enhancements or adjustments under the Guidelines. During the plea colloquy, the District

Court informed Hamani that the plea stipulations were not binding on the court.

A sentencing hearing was held on April 8, 2005. Over Hamani’s objection, the

District Court found, by a preponderance of the evidence, that he was a “career offender”

under section 4B1.1 of the Guidelines. It noted that Hamani’s prior criminal history

included convictions for robbery and aggravated assault, both of which are considered

“crime[s] of violence” under sections 4B1.1 and 4B1.2, qualifying Hamani as a “career

offender.”1

The career offender enhancement increased Hamani’s offense level from 22 to 29,

and his criminal history category from IV to VI. See U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual

§ 4B1.1(b). His final Guidelines range of imprisonment was increased from 63 to 78

months to 151 to 188 months.

The District Court sentenced Hamani to 180 months imprisonment and three years

supervised release. This timely appeal followed.
Because the rights to a jury trial and to proof beyond a reasonable doubt do not 2

apply to these facts, we need not address the potential application of the prior-conviction

exception recognized in Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224 (1998). In

addition, Hamani does not argue that his sentence was unreasonable, and thus we need

not consider the reasonableness of his sentence.

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II.

Hamani argues on appeal, as he did at sentencing, that the District Court’s finding

that the instant offense and the prior state convictions were “crime[s] of violence”

violated his rights to a jury trial and to proof beyond a reasonable doubt. We disagree.

The Supreme Court in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), rendered the

Guidelines merely advisory by excising two provisions of the Sentencing Reform Act of

1984. We have recognized, in light of Booker, that judicial factfinding under the

Guidelines no longer implicates the right to a jury trial and that the facts underlying

Guidelines enhancements are properly found by the court by a preponderance of the

evidence. See United States v. Cooper, No. 05-1447, 2006 WL 330324, at *4 (3d Cir.

Feb. 14, 2006); see also United States v. Davis, 407 F.3d 162, 163 (3d Cir. 2005). Thus,

the District Court’s determination under the Guidelines that the instant offense and

Hamani’s prior convictions were “crime[s] of violence” did not violate his rights to a jury

trial and to proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, we will affirm the judgment

of sentence.

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