USCA11 Case: 20-13645 Date Filed: 05/27/2022 Page: 1 of 15 [PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 20-13645 ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus QUINTON DEAIRRE GARDNER, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama D.C. Docket No. 7:18-cr-00517-ACA-JHE-1 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 20-13645 Date Filed: 05/27/2022 Page: 2 of 15 2 Opinion of the Court 20-13645 Before NEWSOM, TJOFLAT, and HULL, Circuit Judges. HULL, Circuit Judge: After pleading guilty, Quinton Deairre Gardner appeals his 180-month sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). At sentencing, the district court concluded that Gardner qualified for an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), because he had at least three prior “serious drug offenses.” Namely, Gardner had three separate Alabama convictions for first-degree unlawful possession of marijuana for other than personal use and a conviction for unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. To count as a “serious drug offense” under the ACCA, the drug offenses must have a “maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more . . . prescribed by law.” See 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(A)(ii). Alabama’s statutory maximum penalties for each of Gardner’s drug offenses was ten years or more. On appeal, Gardner argues the “maximum term of imprisonment” is not the “statutory maximum” penalty but instead the high end of the particular sentencing range calculated for his prior convictions under Alabama’s presumptive sentencing standards. Because we apply the categorical approach, we look to the maximum statutory sentence for Gardner’s drug offenses, not to the high end of his presumptive sentencing range. Therefore, we affirm Gardner’s ACCA-enhanced sentence. USCA11 Case: 20-13645 Date Filed: 05/27/2022 Page: 3 of 15 20-13645 Opinion of the Court 3 I. BACKGROUND FACTS A. Offense Conduct and Guilty Plea In January 2018, Gardner, a convicted felon, was pulled over by a Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputy during a traffic stop. The deputy ran a check on the license plate of the car Gardner was driving and found that the plate was assigned to a different vehicle. The deputy also confirmed Gardner’s identity and discovered that Gardner had an outstanding warrant. During a search of Gardner’s car, the deputy found a gun under the driver’s seat. Although Gardner denied ownership of the gun, recorded jail telephone calls showed that Gardner was in fact the gun’s owner but had coached the passenger in his car to claim ownership. In 2019, Gardner pled guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of § 922(g)(1). B. Presentence Investigation Report The probation officer prepared a presentence investigation report (“PSI”) that recommended: (1) a base offense level of 24 under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(2) because Gardner committed the offense after sustaining two prior felony convictions for a controlled substance offense; (2) a two-level increase under U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 for attempting to unlawfully influence the passenger in …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals