Opinion
No. 13-14091 D.C. Docket No. 7:01-cr-00011-HL-2
07-03-2014
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. DONALD RAY CEASAR, Defendant-Appellant.
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
Non-Argument Calendar
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Georgia
Before WILSON, JORDAN, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:
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 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).
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.