United States of America v. Anthony Jovon Brown, also known as Anthony Brown

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 18-1426
___________________________
United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee
v.
Anthony Jovon Brown, also known as Anthony Brown
lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant
___________________________
No. 18-1427
___________________________
United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee
v.
Anthony Jovon Brown, also known as Anthony Brown
lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant
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Appeals from United States District Court
for the Southern District of Iowa - Davenport
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Submitted: January 14, 2019
Filed: February 22, 2019
[Published]

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Before GRUENDER, WOLLMAN, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Anthony Brown appeals his sentence of 120 months’ imprisonment for bank
robbery. He challenges the district court’s application of the crime of violence1
enhancement under the sentencing guidelines, contending that his Illinois attempted
robbery conviction does not qualify as a career offender predicate under the
guidelines’s force clause. See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(1). “We review de novo the
district court’s determination that a conviction constitutes a crime of violence.”
United States v. Williams, 899 F.3d 659, 662 (8th Cir. 2018).
We recently held that Illinois robbery is a “violent felony” under the force
clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(b).
Dembry v. United States, No. 17-2849, 2019 WL 436580, at *2-3 (8th Cir. Feb. 5,
2019). “The relevant definition of a violent felony under the ACCA and the
definition of a crime of violence under the guidelines are so similar that we generally
consider cases interpreting them interchangeably.” United States v. Sykes, 914 F.3d
615, 620 (8th Cir. 2019) (internal quotation marks omitted). Applying this logic, we
hold that Illinois robbery is a crime of violence under the guidelines. And because
Illinois robbery is a crime of violence, so too is Illinois attempted robbery. See
U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(1) n.1 (noting that a “crime of violence” includes attempts to
commit such an offense). This conclusion is consistent with Seventh Circuit
decisions, which have “repeatedly held that Illinois robbery is a crime of violence
The Honorable John A. Jarvey, Chief Judge, United States District Court for1
the Southern District of Iowa.
-2-

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under the ‘force’ clause of § 4B1.2(a)(1).” United States v. Davis, 712 F. App’x 578,
579 (7th Cir. 2018), cert. denied, 138 S. Ct. 2695 (2018).
For these reasons, we affirm Brown’s sentence.
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