Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1139891.html
Timestamp: 2019-05-25 20:17:45
Document Index: 635274071

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u20022255', '§\u20022113', '§\u20021291', '§\u20022113', '§\u2002924', '§\u20025861', '§\u20022113', '§\u20022113', '§\u20022113', '§\u20022113', '§\u2002924', '§\u2002924', '§\u20022113', '§\u20021005', '§\u20025861']

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Peter A. BEIERLE, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 95-35286.
Decided: March 06, 1996
Before SNEED, SKOPIL, and FERGUSON, Circuit Judges. Peter A. Beierle, Sheridan, Oregon, in pro se, for defendant-appellant. Fred N. Weinhouse, Assistant United States Attorney, Portland, Oregon, for plaintiff-appellee.
Defendant Peter Beierle appeals the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion. Beierle contends that his 25-year sentence should be reduced to 20 years, the statutory maximum for unarmed bank robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), because the district court erroneously enhanced his sentence under section 2113(d), after related firearms charges were dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291, 2255, and we affirm.
On February 17, 1988, Peter Alexander Beierle was charged in federal court with (1) armed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a, d); (2) unlawfully carrying a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1); and (3) possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 5861(d), 5871. On April 14, 1988, Beierle entered a no contest plea to count I, armed bank robbery, in exchange for dismissal of counts II and III.
Beierle contends principally that the maximum sentence that could be imposed on him after he pleaded no contest to armed bank robbery was 20 years, under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a). He argues that the 25-year sentence imposed on him under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(d) was improper because the government had dismissed the counts charging him with use of a firearm during the robbery. This argument misstates the law.
18 U.S.C. § 2113 provides in pertinent part:
(a) Whoever, by force and violence, or by intimidation, takes, or attempts to take, from the person or presence of another ․ any property or money or any other thing of value belonging to, or in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of, any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association ․
(d) Whoever, in committing, or in attempting to commit, any offense defined in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, assaults any person, or puts in jeopardy the life of any person by the use of a dangerous weapon or device, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty-five years, or both.
18 U.S.C. § 2113(a, d).
Whoever, during and in relation to any crime of violence ․ (including a crime of violence ․ which provides for an enhanced punishment if committed by the use of a deadly or dangerous weapon or device) for which he may be prosecuted in a court of the United States, uses or carries a firearm, shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such crime of violence ․ be sentenced to imprisonment for five years, and if the firearm is a short-barreled rifle, short-barreled shotgun, or semiautomatic assault weapon, to imprisonment for ten years․ [N]or shall the term of imprisonment imposed under this subsection run concurrently with any other term of imprisonment including that imposed for the crime of violence ․ in which the firearm was used or carried.
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). The statute clearly intends that any punishment under section 924(c)(1) be in addition to the punishment or enhanced punishment for the underlying crime. See United States v. Martinez, 49 F.3d 1398, 1402-03 (9th Cir.1995), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 1065, 116 S.Ct. 749, 133 L.Ed.2d 696 (1996).1 Had count II not been dismissed, Beierle could have received a consecutive sentence of ten years for this violation. See 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1); United States v. Cannizzaro, 871 F.2d 809, 810 (9th Cir.) (consecutive sentences can be imposed for convictions under sections 2113(d) and 924(c)), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 895, 110 S.Ct. 245, 107 L.Ed.2d 195 (1989). The fact that this count was dismissed pursuant to the plea bargain does not negate the fact that he used a dangerous weapon during the robbery pursuant to section 2113(a, d), and pleaded no contest to that charge.
1. Beierle cites Simpson v. United States, 435 U.S. 6, 98 S.Ct. 909, 55 L.Ed.2d 70 (1978), for the proposition that “a defendant sentenced under § 2113(d) could not receive an additional consecutive penalty under 924(c).” That was an accurate statement of the law until 1984, when Congress overruled Simpson by enacting the current version of section 924(c). See Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, Pub.L. 98-473, ch. X, § 1005(a), 98 Stat.1976, 2138; Martinez, 49 F.3d at 1402 & n. 7; United States v. Pisani, 787 F.2d 71, 74 (2d Cir.1986).
2. One of Beierle's arguments on appeal is that his no contest plea was improperly obtained because the prosecution and his defense counsel misrepresented to him that the maximum sentence that could be imposed if he went to trial on all three counts was 40 years. Beierle argues that in fact only 25 years could be imposed because he could not be sentenced under both sections 2113(d) and 924(c). As discussed above, however, this argument is in error. Had Beierle chosen to go to trial, he would have faced maximum sentences of 25 years for the section 2113(a, d) violation; 10 years for the section 924(c) violation; and 10 years for possessing an unregistered firearm in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 5861(d), 5871. Thus, he faced a total maximum sentence of 45 years.