Court Opinion

ID: 75183
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2010-04-26 09:06:38+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:03:31.246250
License: Public Domain

[PUBLISH]

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              IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                     FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT       FILED
                                                                   U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
                        ------------------------------------------- ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
                                                                         MAR 26, 2001
                                     No. 00-13325
                                                                      THOMAS K. KAHN
                               Non-Argument Calendar                       CLERK
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                     D. C. Docket No. 00-00032-CR-WTM-4

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                                                         Plaintiff-Appellee,

     versus

MELVIN LAMAR RAY,

                                                         Defendant-Appellant.

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                   Appeal from the United States District Court
                        for the Southern District of Georgia
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                                   (March 26, 2001)

Before EDMONDSON, BIRCH and BARKETT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:

      Melvin Ray appeals his 37-month sentence imposed upon his plea of guilty

to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

      Ray pled guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon pursuant to a

plea agreement. The PSI recommended that Ray be given a base offense level of

20 because Ray was previously convicted of a violent crime (burglary), and under

U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4)(A) a defendant receives a base level of 20 if “the defendant

had one prior felony conviction of either a crime of violence or a controlled

substance offense.” The PSI explained that in 1992, Ray was convicted of

burglary when he “entered Room 156 at the Ramada Inn . . . . According to the

defendant, he was dared by a friend to enter a room where the door had been left

open.”

      That Ray burglarized a hotel room is undisputed. Ray, however, objected to

the PSI’s determination that his burglary of a hotel room constituted the burglary

of a “dwelling.” The sentencing court adopted the PSI findings and sentenced Ray

to 37 months in prison.

      We follow the Third Circuit’s decision in United States v. McClenton, 53

F.3d 584 (3rd Cir. 1995): a hotel guest room -- occupied or not -- constitutes a

“dwelling” under the pertinent Guidelines.

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AFFIRMED.

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