FILED United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit PUBLISH June 28, 2021 Christopher M. Wolpert UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Clerk of Court TENTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. No. 20-2014 DANIEL LOWELL, Defendant - Appellant. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO (D.C. NO. 2:18-CR-01108-KG-1) John C. Arceci, Assistant Federal Public Defender (Virginia L. Grady, Federal Public Defender, with him on the briefs), Office of the Federal Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Appellant. Marisa A. Ong, Assistant United States Attorney (John C. Anderson, United States Attorney, with her on the brief), Office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Las Cruces, New Mexico, for Appellee. Before TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge, KELLY, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge. Daniel Lowell and his girlfriend went on a Bonnie and Clyde-esque crime spree that turned deadly. While on their way to cash in a stolen car and credit cards, the pair were pulled over outside Las Cruces, New Mexico. A high-speed chase ensued. They carjacked a Toyota 4Runner and eventually law enforcement lost track of them for two and a half hours in Las Cruces, during which time they did drugs and shoplifted items from Walmart that they could use to steal another car. After an officer spotted the 4Runner, another chase ensued, but this time it ended tragically when their car crashed into a motorcyclist, killing him. Lowell pleaded guilty to numerous crimes, including carjacking resulting in death in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119(3), and was sentenced to 449 months’ imprisonment. On appeal, Lowell challenges the validity of his guilty plea, as well as the district court’s application of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (USSG). Lowell argues that his conviction for carjacking resulting in death is invalid because he lacked the specific intent to cause the motorcyclist’s death while in the act of carjacking. But § 2119(3) merely requires but-for causation, not specific intent to cause the death. Lowell further argues that the district court erred by applying the first-degree murder cross reference in USSG § 2B3.1(c). We disagree. The cross reference applies to carjacking because the crime is a species of robbery, and here, the cross reference was properly applied to Lowell because the events leading up to the crash were part of a single crime spree and the motorcyclist’s death was thus in the perpetration of the carjacking. Finding no error below, we affirm Lowell’s conviction and sentence. I. Background -2- A. The Crime Spree Lowell and his girlfriend were drug users looking for ways to support their habits. Lowell stole a truck in Colorado and knew of a stolen goods buyer in California. So, in November 2017, the pair left Colorado to cash in the stolen truck, as well as some stolen credit cards. While traveling through New Mexico high on methamphetamine, they encountered a United States Border Patrol immigration checkpoint. The agent ran the truck’s license plate and learned the truck was …
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