Opinion ID: 4231798
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Issues Raised for Preservation

Text: Fox raises two arguments that he admits are foreclosed by controlling precedent, but seeks to preserve them for Supreme Court review. First, he argues that the indictment in this case was insufficient because it did not refer to the 25-year mandatory add-on sentence for a second or subsequent conviction for using a firearm in a crime of violence. 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(C)(i). Our decision in United States v. Cardena, 842 F.3d 959, 1000 (7th Cir. 2016), is conclusive on that point. We observed there that the Supreme Court’s decision in Almendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 244–47 (1998), “held that recidivism is not an ‘element’ of an offense, and so it need not be found by a jury.” Because the recidivism addon is not an element of the predicate offense, it did not have to be included in the indictment. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 7(c)(1) (“The indictment or information must be a plain, concise, and No. 16-2892 9 definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged ....”). 2 Second, Fox argues that Hobbs Act robberies are not “crimes of violence” under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A). We held otherwise earlier this year in United States v. Anglin, 846 F.3d 954, 965 (7th Cir. 2017), vacated on other grounds by 138 S. Ct. 126 (2017). Our sister circuits which have confronted the question agree. United States v. Gooch, 850 F.3d 285, 292 (6th Cir. 2017); United States v. Hill, 832 F.3d 135, 140–44 (2d Cir. 2016); In re St. Fleur, 824 F.3d 1337, 1340 (11th Cir. 2016); United States v. Howard, 650 F. App’x 466, 468 (9th Cir. 2016). We reaffirm today that Hobbs Act robberies are crimes of violence under Section 924(c)(3)(A). Therefore, we affirm Fox’s conviction.