United States v. Donald Ray Ceasar ( 2014 )

Case: 13-14091 Date Filed: 07/03/2014 Page: 1 of 4
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 13-14091
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 7:01-cr-00011-HL-2
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
DONALD RAY CEASAR,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Georgia
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(July 3, 2014)
Before WILSON, JORDAN, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
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Donald Ray Ceasar appeals from the district court’s imposition of a
27-month sentence following the revocation of his term of supervised release.
Mr. Ceasar argues that the district court erred in concluding that his underlying
conviction for possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, see 18 U.S.C.
§ 924(c)(1)(A)(ii), was a Class A felony for purposes of calculating his advisory
revocation Guidelines range. Specifically, he argues that § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii) should
be characterized as a Class B felony because the statute does not explicitly
authorize a life sentence.
We review de novo the legality of a sentence imposed pursuant to the
revocation of a term of supervised release. United States v. Pla, 345 F.3d 1312,
1313 (11th Cir. 2003). Following a review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we
affirm.
A defendant’s advisory guideline range following a revocation of supervised
release is generally determined based on the grade of the release violation and the
defendant’s underlying criminal history category. See U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4(a).
Where a defendant commits a Grade A release violation, as Mr. Ceasar did, he
receives a higher guideline range if his underlying conviction was for a Class A
felony. See id.
“An offense that is not specifically classified by a letter grade in the section
defining it, is classified [according to] the maximum term of imprisonment
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authorized.” 18 U.S.C. § 3559(a). The crime is considered a Class A felony where
the maximum penalty is death or life imprisonment, and a Class B felony where
the maximum term of imprisonment is 25 years or more. See § 3559(a)(1) & (2).
Although Congress did not specify a maximum sentence that may be imposed for a
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii), providing instead that the defendant shall
“be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 7 years,” we have held
that the statutory maximum sentence for all subsections of § 924(c)(1)(A) is life
imprisonment. See United States v. Pounds, 230 F.3d 1317, 1319 (11th Cir. 2000).
“Every other Court of Appeals to address this issue has reached the same
conclusion.” United States v. McCollum, 548 F. App’x 65, 66-67 (3d Cir. 2013)
(collecting cases).
Accordingly, because the “maximum term of imprisonment authorized”
under § 924(c)(1)(A) is life imprisonment, it is properly classified as a “Class A
felony” under 18 U.S.C. § 3559(a)(1). See also United States v. Cudjoe, 634 F.3d
1163, 1166 (10th Cir. 2011) (holding that an offense under §924(c)(1)(A)(i) is
“properly classified as a Class A felony” because “the sentencing range for a
violation of § 924(c)(1)(A)(i) extends to life imprisonment”); United States v.
Miles, 947 F.2d 1234, 1235-36 (5th Cir. 1991) (holding that crimes subject to a
minimum sentence of 15 years under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1) are properly
characterized as Class A felonies under 18 U.S.C. § 3559).
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Because the district court properly classified Mr. Ceasar’s underlying
offense under § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii) as a Class A felony, it committed no error in
calculating his advisory guideline range.
AFFIRMED.
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