UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 13-4857
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
MAURICE LASHAWN MELVIN, a/k/a Maurice Leshawn Melvin,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. James C. Fox, Senior
District Judge. (5:12-cr-00323-F-1)
Submitted: June 24, 2014 Decided: July 1, 2014
Before MOTZ, GREGORY, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Thomas P. McNamara, Federal Public Defender, Eric J. Brignac,
Assistant Federal Public Defender, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
Appellant. Thomas G. Walker, United States Attorney, Jennifer
P. May-Parker, Kristine L. Fritz, Assistant United States
Attorneys, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Maurice Lashawn Melvin pled guilty, pursuant to a
written plea agreement, to possessing a firearm after being
convicted of a felony, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1),
924 (2012). He was sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal
Act (“ACCA”) to 159 months in prison. * The sole claim Melvin
raises on appeal is whether the sentencing court erred in
determining that his prior North Carolina convictions for
conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon constitute
predicate offenses under the ACCA.
We review de novo a district court’s determination of
whether prior offenses qualify as violent felonies for purposes
of the ACCA. United States v. Hemingway, 734 F.3d 323, 331 (4th
Cir. 2013). Melvin does not contest that the substantive North
Carolina offense of robbery with a dangerous weapon is a violent
felony under the ACCA. Rather, he contends that a conspiracy
conviction cannot categorically operate as a predicate felony
for ACCA purposes because conspiracy does not require an overt
act.
Circuit precedent forecloses Melvin’s argument
challenging his sentence under the ACCA. See United States v.
*
He received a downward departure below the mandatory
statutory minimum pursuant to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual
§ 5K1.1 (2012).
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White, 571 F.3d 365, 371 (4th Cir. 2009) (holding North Carolina
conviction for conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous
weapon constitutes a predicate violent felony under ACCA). We
therefore reject Melvin’s claim. See Scotts Co. v. United
Indus. Corp., 315 F.3d 264, 271 n.2 (4th Cir. 2002) (noting that
a panel of this court cannot explicitly or implicitly overrule
circuit precedent established by a prior panel; only the United
States Supreme Court or this court sitting en banc may do so).
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district
court. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before this court and argument would not aid in the decisional
process.
AFFIRMED
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