United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 21-2369 ___________________________ United States of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Levi Hamilton Defendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Western ____________ Submitted: June 14, 2022 Filed: August 30, 2022 ____________ Before GRUENDER, BENTON, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges. ____________ GRUENDER, Circuit Judge. Levi Hamilton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, see 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, see § 841(a)(1). He appeals the district court’s1 application of 1 The Honorable Leonard T. Strand, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. the career-offender sentencing enhancement, see U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1, and the substantive reasonableness of his sentence. We affirm. I. Hamilton was indicted for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, see 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, see § 841(a)(1). He pleaded guilty to both counts. The presentence investigation report recommended applying the career-offender sentencing enhancement, see U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1, based on Hamilton’s two prior Iowa convictions: terrorism and assault on a police officer. Hamilton objected to the classification of his conviction for assault on a police officer as a crime of violence under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2. He also moved for a downward variance or departure. See § 4B1.1, cmt. n.4. At sentencing, the district court applied the career-offender sentencing enhancement under § 4B1.1. The district court calculated an advisory sentencing guidelines range of 262 to 327 months and sentenced Hamilton to 262 months’ imprisonment. Hamilton appeals the application of the career-offender enhancement and the substantive reasonableness of his sentence. II. First, we review the district court’s application of the career-offender sentencing enhancement. Under § 4B1.1, a defendant is considered a career offender and subject to an enhanced offense level if, among other things, “the defendant has at least two prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense.” We review de novo whether a predicate offense qualifies as a crime of violence as defined in § 4B1.2. United States v. Hollis, 447 F.3d 1053, 1054 (8th Cir. 2006). “Under the so-called ‘force clause’ of the career-offender guideline, a conviction qualifies as a ‘crime of violence’ if it is an ‘offense under federal or state -2- law, punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year,’ that ‘has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.’” United States v. Tinlin, 20 F.4th 426, 427 (8th Cir. 2021), petition for cert. filed, --- U.S.L.W. --- (U.S. June 21, 2022) (21-8191) (quoting §§ 4B1.1(a) and 4B1.2(a)). “If a statute contains alternatives, some of which do not have a force element, then we must determine whether the statute is divisible into alternative elements—separate crimes—or instead sets forth alternative factual means to commit a single offense.” United States v. Fisher, 25 F.4th 1080, 1083 (8th Cir. 2022) (citing Mathis v. United States, 579 U.S. 500, …
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