UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. DAMIEN RILEY
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Wilkinson, May 9, 2017,
USSG – Armed Robbery- Maryland simple robbery qualifies as a crime of violence under the US Sentencing Guidelines

Riley was convicted of four counts of Possession with Intent to Distribute (PWID). He was previously convicted under Maryland law of both robbery with a dangerous weapon and distribution of CDS.

He was sentenced as a career offender, but on appeal claimed that he was not a career offender because his Maryland conviction for armed robbery didn’t count as a crime of violence under the sentencing guidelines.

Law:
Holding: The Court disagreed. Maryland follows the common law crime of robbery, and robbery is specifically identified as a crime of violence in the commentary to the guidelines.

Under the USSG a defendant is a career offender if:
(1) the defendant was at least eighteen years old at the time the defendant committed the instant offense of conviction;
(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.

At the time of Riley’s conviction, the USSG allowed a crime to qualify as a crime of violence:
if the offense “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another” (force clause);
“is burglary of a dwelling, arson, or extortion, [or] involves use of explosives” (enumerated clause);
“or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another” (residual clause)

When the Supreme Court declared the residual clause of the ACCA to be unconstitutionally vague, the US Sentencing Commission removed the residual clause from the guideline’s definition of “crime of violence.” Though in Beckles the Supreme Court held that the Sentencing Guidelines can’t be unconstitutionally vague.

In Maryland, robbery involves the carrying away of another’s property “from his person or in his presence . . . by violence or putting in fear.”

Because of this, it “involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” The commentary to the USSG clearly lists robbery as a crime of violence under the guidelines, listing example crimes: murder, voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, aggravated assault, a forcible sex offense, robbery, arson, extortion, or the use or unlawful possession of a firearm described in 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a) or explosive material as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 841(c).