Opinion ID: 727620
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Career Offender and Armed Career Criminal Classifications

Text: 37 The district court found that Gerald's prior convictions qualified him as both a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 and an armed career criminal under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.4. Section 4B1.1 provides that [a] defendant is a career offender if (1) the defendant was at least eighteen years old at the time of the instant offense; (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. Section 4B1.4 provides that [a] defendant who is subject to an enhanced sentence under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) is an armed career criminal. Section 924(e)(1) provides, in turn, for an enhanced sentence if the instant offense of conviction is a violation of § 922(g), and the defendant has at least three prior convictions for a violent felony or serious drug offense, as defined by the statute, or both, committed on different occasions from one another. 38 Gerald's prior convictions are for: (1) armed robbery and malicious shooting in 1977; (2) armed bank robbery in 1978; and (3) first degree robbery in 1979. Based on the age of these convictions, Gerald argues that they should not have been used to enhance his sentence. In support of his position, Gerald points to the ten-year rule on prior convictions used for impeachment purposes contained in Federal Rule of Evidence 609(b) and the fifteen-year rule of U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(e) for prior convictions considered in a defendant's criminal history. 39 Gerald's position is meritless. The career offender provision of the Guidelines does employ the fifteen-year rule of U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(e). See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2, Application Note 4. Felony convictions occurring outside of the fifteen-year window are still considered, however, if the defendant was incarcerated as a result of that conviction at any time during the fifteen-year period. See U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(e)(1). This latter provision renders it appropriate for the district court to have considered Gerald's convictions. Indeed, Gerald's counsel appears to have conceded that point at sentencing: I'm going to withdraw my objection with reference to criminal history. I believe Probation and Parole is correct in their reference to the Guidelines, the fact that if they served any ... part of their sentence during the 15 years prior can be used in the ascertainment of criminal history for the defendant. 40 Gerald's contentions in regard to the Guidelines' armed career criminal provision are also meritless. Section 924(e) does not impose any time limit on convictions used to support an enhancement under that section. United States v. Moreno, 933 F.2d 362, 373 (6th Cir.) (holding that fifteen-year rule of U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2 does not apply to § 924(e) because [a]lthough the Sentencing Guidelines may restrict the sentencing court's consideration of certain past offenses, § 924(e) does not), cert. denied, 502 F.2d 895 (1991). 4 Accordingly, we find no error in classifying Gerald as a career offender and an armed career criminal. 41