UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 09-4564
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
STEVEN CROCKETT, SR.,
Defendant – Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Baltimore. Andre M. Davis, District Judge. (1:06-
cr-00445-AMD-1)
Submitted: March 3, 2011 Decided: March 21, 2011
Before MOTZ, AGEE, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
James Wyda, Federal Public Defender, Sapna Mirchandani, Staff
Attorney, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellant. Rod J.
Rosenstein, United States Attorney, Bonnie S. Greenberg,
Assistant United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for
Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Steven Crockett, Sr., pled guilty pursuant to a plea
agreement to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted
felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 922(g)(1) (West 2000
& Supp. 2010). Based, in part, on his prior Maryland conviction
for second degree rape, in violation of Md. Code Ann., Crim. Law
§ 3-304 (LexisNexis Supp. 2010), Crockett was sentenced under
the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C.A. § 924(e) (West 2000 &
Supp. 2010) ("ACCA"), to 210 months in prison. Crockett appeals
his sentence, asserting that the district court erred when it
determined that his prior rape conviction qualified as a violent
felony under the ACCA. Finding no error, we affirm.
We discern no error in the district court’s
determination that under the facts of this case, Crockett’s rape
conviction was a proper ACCA predicate offense. In particular,
after recognizing the ambiguity created by Maryland’s second
degree rape statute, the district court appropriately allowed
the Government to introduce into evidence the transcript of
Crockett’s state guilty plea colloquy to determine whether
Crockett “necessarily admitted” facts amounting to a violent
felony under the ACCA. See Johnson v. United States,
___ U.S. ___, 130 S. Ct. 1265, 1273 (2010) (recognizing that the
district court may look to plea colloquy transcripts to
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determine whether a prior conviction constitutes an ACCA
predicate under the modified categorical approach).
We also conclude that the district court correctly
observed that while Crockett may have initially been reluctant
to admit to the State’s factual summary for his rape, which
indicated that Crockett’s rape was forceful, Crockett ultimately
conceded that he was guilty of the crime summarized by the State
and was “fine with [his] plea.” Although the state court
invited Crockett to comment on the Government’s factual
scenario, Crockett chose not to do so. We reject Crockett’s
assertion that this Court’s holding in United State v. Alston,
611 F.3d 219, 220-21 (4th Cir. 2010) (holding that a prior
conviction for Maryland second-degree assault did not constitute
an ACCA violent felony where the defendant entered an Alford *
plea), requires a different result.
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the
court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
*
North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 38 (1970) (finding
no constitutional error when a defendant waives trial and
consents to punishment without admitting guilt to the charge).
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