USCA11 Case: 20-13807 Date Filed: 07/19/2021 Page: 1 of 3
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 20-13807
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 5:19-cr-00052-JDW-PRL-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
SHELLEY DEVAUGHN COOK,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
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(July 19, 2021)
Before JILL PRYOR, LUCK, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
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Shelley Cook appeals his 180-month sentence imposed under the Armed
Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), after he pled guilty to being a
felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).
Acknowledging that he is raising his arguments for purposes of appellate
preservation, Cook argues that his prior conviction under Florida’s resisting arrest
with violence statute, Fla. Stat. § 843.01, cannot be a violent felony under the
Armed Career Criminal Act.
We review de novo whether a prior conviction is a violent felony for
purposes of the ACCA. United States v. Harris, 941 F.3d 1048, 1051 (11th Cir.
2019).
The ACCA imposes a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15
years for those who violate 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and who have previously been
convicted on 3 different occasions of violent felonies or serious drug offenses. 18
U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). A “violent felony” under the ACCA is a crime that is
punishable by more than one year’s imprisonment and “has as an element of the
use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of
another.” 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i). U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(1) uses identical
language to define a “crime of violence” and is interpreted to mean the same thing
as a violent felony under the ACCA. United States v. Golden, 854 F.3d 1256,
1257 (11th Cir. 2017).
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We have determined that a prior conviction for resisting an officer with
violence in violation of Fla. Stat. § 843.01 categorically qualifies as a crime of
violence under the elements clause in U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2, comment. (n.1(B)(iii)).
United States v. Romo-Villalobos, 674 F.3d 1246, 1251 (11th Cir. 2012). Violence
is a necessary element of the offense. Id. at 1249. In United States v. Hill, we
reaffirmed this holding under the elements clause in the ACCA. 799 F.3d 1318,
1322–23 (11th Cir. 2015).
Under the prior precedent rule, we are bound to follow a prior binding
precedent unless and until it is overruled by this Court en banc or by the Supreme
Court. United States v. Vega-Castillo, 540 F.3d 1235, 1236 (11th Cir. 2008). The
prior panel precedent rule applies even if the prior precedent is arguably flawed.
Golden, 854 F.3d at 1257.
Here, Cook’s argument that his prior conviction for Florida resisting an
officer with violence is not a violent felony is foreclosed by our binding precedent.
Hill, 799 F.3d at 1322–23; Romo-Villalobos, 674 F.3d at 1251. Accordingly, the
district court did not err in sentencing Cook as an armed career criminal.
AFFIRMED.
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