United States v. Vanhook, No. 09-5778 (6th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseThe defendant pled guilty as a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 180 months in prison as an armed career criminal. The classification was based on two prior convictions for sale of cocaine and one for facilitation of burglary. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court subsequently altered the test for determining whether a prior state law conviction constitutes a violent felony and vacated the sentence. On remand the district court again classified the defendant as an armed career criminal. The Sixth Circuit vacated and remanded, holding that the Tennessee offense of facilitation of burglary does not qualify as a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924. The elements do not include use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another, as described in the Act. The Act also includes an offense that "otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another;" while facilitation of burglary does involve such a risk, it is not like the other acts specified in the statute as it does not necessarily involve an act that is "purposeful, violent, and aggressive."
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