United States v. Burke

                       United States Court of Appeals,

                                Eleventh Circuit.

                                  No. 96-6354.

           UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,

                                       v.

                Michael Steve BURKE, Defendant-Appellant.

                                  May 29, 1997.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of Alabama. (No. Cr-M95-18-N), Charles S. Coody,
Magistrate Judge.

Before BLACK, Circuit Judge, RONEY, Senior Circuit Judge, and
BURNS*, Senior District Judge.

     PER CURIAM:

     Military police arrested Michael Steve Burke for driving while

intoxicated in the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, a place

within the Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction of the

United States.         Because there is no federal law prohibiting such

conduct, he was charged under the Assimilative Crimes Act (ACA), 18

U.S.C.     §     13,     with    violating    Maryland     Code   Annotated

[Transportation] § 21-902(a) (1995) ("Driving While Intoxicated").

     Three years later, Burke pled guilty to the offense in the

Middle District of Alabama.         The magistrate judge sentenced him to

one year in prison followed by a one-year term of supervised

release.       On appeal, Burke argues that the ACA limits the total

number of days of his imprisonment plus supervised release to the

one-year maximum term of incarceration allowed under Maryland Code

Annotated [Transportation] § 27-101(k).           Under the de novo standard

     *
      Honorable James M. Burns, Senior U.S. District Judge for
the District of Oregon, sitting by designation.
of review, see United States v. Rojas, 47 F.3d 1078, 1080 (11th

Cir.1995), we affirm.

     In United States v. Pierce, 75 F.3d 173, 178 (4th Cir.1996),

the Fourth Circuit rejected a defendant's argument that the ACA

limits the total number of days of imprisonment plus supervised

release to the maximum number of days of incarceration allowed

under the assimilated state law.   We find the Fourth Circuit's

opinion persuasive and adopt its reasoning.

     AFFIRMED.