Filed: Feb. 21, 2020
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 16-4603 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. SHANNON JAMES ELLIOTT, Defendant - Appellant. No. 16-4617 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. KATRINA RENEE SURRATT, Defendant - Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:16-cr-00013-WO-1; 1:16-cr-00013- WO-2) Submitted: November 25, 2019 D
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 16-4603 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. SHANNON JAMES ELLIOTT, Defendant - Appellant. No. 16-4617 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. KATRINA RENEE SURRATT, Defendant - Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:16-cr-00013-WO-1; 1:16-cr-00013- WO-2) Submitted: November 25, 2019 De..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 16-4603
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
SHANNON JAMES ELLIOTT,
Defendant - Appellant.
No. 16-4617
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
KATRINA RENEE SURRATT,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at
Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., District Judge. (1:16-cr-00013-WO-1; 1:16-cr-00013-
WO-2)
Submitted: November 25, 2019 Decided: February 21, 2020
Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, WILKINSON, Circuit Judge, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Louis C. Allen, Federal Public Defender, Kathleen A. Gleason, Assistant Federal Public
Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Greensboro, North
Carolina; Aaron B. Wellman, COALTER LAW, PLLC, Greensboro, North Carolina, for
Appellants. Matthew G.T. Martin, United States Attorney, John M. Alsup, Assistant
United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Greensboro,
North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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PER CURIAM:
Shannon James Elliott and Katrina Renee Surratt (“Appellants”) were charged as
co-defendants in a six-count indictment. Counts 1, 3, and 5 each alleged Hobbs Act
robberies, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 1951(a) (2012), and Counts 2, 4, and 6 each
alleged carrying and using, by brandishing, a firearm during and in relation to a crime of
violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 924(c)(1)(A)(ii) (2012). Appellants moved to
dismiss Counts 2, 4, and 6 on the ground that Hobbs Act robbery does not qualify as a
crime of violence under § 924(c). The district court denied the motion, and Appellants
entered conditional guilty pleas, reserving their right to appeal the denial of the motion.
The district court sentenced Elliott to a total of 156 months’ imprisonment and Surratt to a
total of 137 months’ imprisonment. Appellants’ sole claim on appeal is that the district
court erred in denying the motion to dismiss because Hobbs Act robbery is not a crime of
violence under § 924(c). We affirm.
Section 924(c)(3) provides two definitions of the term “crime of violence”—the
force clause in § 924(c)(3)(A) and the residual clause in § 924(c)(3)(B). In United States
v. Davis,
139 S. Ct. 2319, 2336 (2019), the Supreme Court held that § 924(c)(3)’s residual
clause is unconstitutionally vague. Shortly after Davis, however, we held in United States
v. Mathis,
932 F.3d 242, 266 (4th Cir. 2019), petitions for cert. filed, Nos. 19-6423,
19-6424 (U.S. Oct. 28, 2019), that “Hobbs Act robbery constitutes a crime of violence
under [§ 924(c)(3)’s] force clause.” Because Appellants’ contested convictions qualify as
crimes of violence under the force clause, their only argument is foreclosed by Mathis.
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We therefore affirm the judgments of the district court. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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