Filed: Aug. 26, 2013
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-4201 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. RAMSEY DEAN LEWIS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Max O. Cogburn, Jr., District Judge. (3:11-cr-00227-MOC-DCK-1) Submitted: August 22, 2013 Decided: August 26, 2013 Before MOTZ, DIAZ, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Henderson Hill, Execu
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-4201 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. RAMSEY DEAN LEWIS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Max O. Cogburn, Jr., District Judge. (3:11-cr-00227-MOC-DCK-1) Submitted: August 22, 2013 Decided: August 26, 2013 Before MOTZ, DIAZ, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Henderson Hill, Execut..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 13-4201
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
RAMSEY DEAN LEWIS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Max O. Cogburn, Jr.,
District Judge. (3:11-cr-00227-MOC-DCK-1)
Submitted: August 22, 2013 Decided: August 26, 2013
Before MOTZ, DIAZ, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Henderson Hill, Executive Director, Joshua B. Carpenter, FEDERAL
DEFENDERS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, INC., Asheville, North
Carolina, for Appellant.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Ramsey Dean Lewis pled guilty to being a felon in
possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)
(2006). He was sentenced to a mandatory minimum sentence of
fifteen years because he was found to have three prior
qualifying convictions under the Armed Career Criminal Act
(“ACCA”). See 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1) (West 2000 & Supp. 2013).
On appeal, counsel has filed a brief pursuant to Anders v.
California,
386 U.S. 738 (1967), conceding there are no
meritorious grounds for appeal, but raising the following
issues: (1) whether the district court erred under the Fifth and
Sixth Amendment by sentencing Lewis under the ACCA; and (2)
whether the district court erred by concluding that three of
Lewis’ prior convictions qualified as separate predicate
offenses under the ACCA. Despite notice, Lewis has not filed a
pro se supplemental brief. For the reasons that follow, we
affirm.
Under the ACCA, a defendant is an armed career
criminal if he has at least three prior convictions for violent
felonies or serious drug offenses “committed on occasions
different from one another.” 18 U.S.C.A. § 924(e)(1); see U.S.
Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 4B1.4(a) (2012). The Government
bears the burden of proving an ACCA predicate conviction by a
preponderance of the evidence. United States v. Harcum, 587
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F.3d 219, 222 (4th Cir. 2009). The parties do not dispute the
existence of the underlying convictions at issue, here three
North Carolina convictions for common law robbery on different
dates (two in 1996 and one in 2002). Lewis first argues that
sentencing him pursuant to the ACCA violated his Fifth and Sixth
Amendment rights when the facts necessary to support the
application of the ACCA were neither alleged in the indictment
nor admitted by him. We review this question of law de novo,
United States v. Washington,
629 F.3d 403, 411 (4th Cir. 2011),
and have previously rejected a similar challenge. United States
v. Thompson,
421 F.3d 278, 283 (4th Cir. 2005). Therefore, this
claim fails.
Next, Lewis argues that his three prior robbery
convictions were not proper ACCA predicates. The offenses
constitute predicate convictions under ACCA. See 18 U.S.C.A. §
924(e)(1)-(2); United States v. Presley,
52 F.3d 64, 69 (4th
Cir. 1995) (finding Virginia common law robbery qualifies as
violent felony under the ACCA). We also reject Lewis’ claim
that, because two of his convictions were almost fifteen years
old, they were improperly considered in determining his ACCA
status. In Presley, we held that there is no temporal
restriction on prior felony offenses for purposes of the ACCA.
Id. at 69-70. Therefore, the age of Lewis’ common law robbery
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convictions is of no legal significance. Thus, this claim lacks
merit.
In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the record
in this case and have found no meritorious issues for appeal.
Lewis knowingly and voluntarily pled guilty in a hearing that
complied with Fed. R. Crim. P. 11 and we find no reversible
error in his sentencing. We therefore affirm Lewis’ conviction
and sentence. This court requires that counsel inform Lewis, in
writing, of the right to petition the Supreme Court of the
United States for further review. If Lewis requests that a
petition be filed, but counsel believes that such a petition
would be frivolous, then counsel may move in this court for
leave to withdraw from representation. Counsel’s motion must
state that a copy thereof was served on Lewis. 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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