United States of America v. Ricky Lee Riddle

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION
File Name: 22a0274n.06
No. 21-5416
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
RICKY LEE RIDDLE,
Defendant-Appellant.
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ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED
STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR
THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF
TENNESSEE
Before: KETHLEDGE, STRANCH, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges.
KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judge. Ricky Lee Riddle was sentenced as a career offender based
in part on a Tennessee robbery conviction. He now challenges that designation. We affirm.
In 2020, Riddle pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of
18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The probation office recommended that Riddle be designated a career
offender under the Guidelines because he had two prior convictions for a felony “crime of
violence.” One of those convictions was for robbery in Tennessee, in violation of Tenn. Code
Ann. § 39-13-401. See U.S.S.G. §§ 2K2.1, 4B1.1. That designation would increase Riddle’s base
offense level from 14 to 24. Riddle objected to the report, arguing that Tennessee robbery does
not qualify as a crime of violence under the Guidelines. The district court overruled Riddle’s
objection, designated him as a career offender, and sentenced him to 100 months’ imprisonment.

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No. 21-5416, United States v. Riddle
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We review the district court’s designation of Riddle as a career offender de novo. See
United States v. Hill, 982 F.3d 441, 443 (6th Cir. 2020). Riddle’s argument here is that his
Tennessee offense was not a crime of violence as defined by U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a). That definition
is identical to the definition of a “violent felony” under the Armed Career Criminal Act. We
therefore construe the two definitions the same way. United States v. Harris, 853 F.3d 318, 320
(6th Cir. 2017). And we have held that Tennessee robbery is a violent felony under the elements
clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act. See United States v. Mitchell, 743 F.3d 1054, 1059 (6th
Cir. 2014); United States v. Randy Belcher, No. 21-5414, slip op. at 3 (6th Cir. July 12, 2022). We
therefore apply that same holding here. The district court was therefore correct to designate Riddle
a career offender.
The district court’s judgment is affirmed.

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