UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 09-4913

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff – Appellee,

v.

MARVIN BARNETTE,

Defendant – Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western 

District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Martin K. Reidinger, 

District Judge. (3:08-cr-00124-MR-1)

Submitted: September 30, 2010 Decided: October 7, 2010

Before NIEMEYER, AGEE, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Claire J. Rauscher, Executive Director, Ross H. Richardson, 

Assistant Federal Defender, Charlotte, North Carolina, for 

Appellant. Amy Elizabeth Ray, Assistant United States Attorney, 

Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

Marvin Barnette pled guilty to possession of a firearm 

after having been convicted of a felony offense, in violation of 

18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (2006). The district court sentenced 

Barnette to 180 months imprisonment, the mandatory minimum 

sentence under the statute. Barnette’s attorney filed a brief 

in accordance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), 

stating that, in counsel’s view, there are no meritorious issues 

for appeal, but questioning whether Barnette was properly 

sentenced as an armed career criminal. Barnette was advised of 

his right to file a supplemental pro se brief, but has not done 

so. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

Barnette challenges the determination that he be 

sentenced as an armed career criminal due to his North Carolina 

convictions for breaking or entering under North Carolina 

General Statutes § 14-54(a) (2009). A person who violates 18 

U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and has three prior convictions for a violent 

felony offense qualifies as an armed career criminal and is 

subject to a minimum sentence of fifteen years. 18 U.S.C. 

§ 924(e)(1) (2006). This court has previously held that “a 

North Carolina conviction for ‘breaking or entering’ under North 

Carolina General Statutes § 14-54(a) is, as a matter of law, a 

‘violent felony’ within the meaning of ACCA.” United States v. 

Thompson, 588 F.3d 197, 202 (4th Cir. 2009), cert. denied, 130 
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S. Ct. 1916 (2010). Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s 

determination that Barnette qualified as an armed career

criminal. 

The district court further considered Barnette’s 

individual circumstances and granted a downward variance from 

the applicable guideline range to 180 months, the statutory 

minimum sentence for an armed career criminal. We conclude that 

this sentence was reasonable and therefore affirm the sentence. 

See Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007); see United 

States v. Llamas, 599 F.3d 381, 387 (4th Cir. 2010).

We have reviewed the entire record in this case and 

have found no meritorious issues for appeal. This court 

requires that counsel inform Barnette, in writing, of the right 

to petition the Supreme Court of the United States for further 

review. If Barnette requests that a petition be filed, but 

counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then 

counsel may move in this court for leave to withdraw from 

representation. Counsel’s motion must state that a copy thereof 

was served on Barnette. 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