PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ______________ No. 20-2709 ______________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. SHAWN SHANNON QUINNONES, a/k/a Michael Murphy, Appellant ______________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Criminal No. 5-18-cr-00220-001) District Judge: Hon. Edward G. Smith ______________ Argued October 5, 2021 ______________ Before: SHWARTZ, RESTREPO, and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges. (Filed: October 26, 2021) Thomas M. Zaleski Robert A. Zauzmer [ARGUED] Office of United States Attorney 615 Chestnut Street Suite 1250 Philadelphia, PA 19106 Counsel for Appellee Abigail E. Horn [ARGUED] Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania 601 Walnut Street The Curtis Center, Suite 540 West Philadelphia, PA 19106 Counsel for Defendant-Appellant ______________ OPINION ______________ SHWARTZ, Circuit Judge. In this case, we are required to determine whether assault by a prisoner under the portion of 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 2703 that criminalizes “caus[ing] another to come into contact with [bodily] fluid” when the prisoner knew or should have known the fluid came from someone with a communicable disease is a “crime of violence” under the United States Sentencing Guidelines’ career offender provision, U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1. We conclude it is not. 2 I Shawn Shannon Quinnones pleaded guilty to two counts of armed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2113(a), (d) and § 2. She also stipulated that her commission of an armed robbery of a Family Dollar store should be treated at sentencing as if it were a third count of conviction. The United States Probation Office prepared a Presentence Investigation Report (“PSR”) detailing Quinnones’ criminal history and recommending that she be sentenced as a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 because her crime of conviction for armed bank robbery and her four prior convictions for assault by a prisoner in violation of 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 2703 were all “crimes of violence.” Quinnones objected to the career offender designation, arguing that three of her § 2703 convictions did not qualify as crimes of violence.1 The District Court disagreed, applied the career offender designation, departed downward from the Guidelines range of 188-235 months, and sentenced Quinnones to 132 months’ imprisonment, followed by five years’ supervised release, and $8,058 in restitution. Quinnones appeals. 1 In her sentencing memorandum, Quinnones did not object to counting as a qualifying offense a 1997 conviction for violating § 2703. 3 II2 A Quinnones argues that her convictions under § 2703 are not “crimes of violence” as defined by U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2, and, therefore, the District Court erred by sentencing her as a career offender. To evaluate this contention, we first set forth the definition of “crime of violence” under the Sentencing Guidelines. We then identify the elements of the statute of conviction, here § 2703. Thereafter, we compare those elements to the definition of “crime of violence” to determine whether § 2703 fits the definition. B A defendant whose crime of conviction is a “crime of violence” or a “controlled substance offense” and who …
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