Background
Nathaniel Broughton was convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of Section eighteen United States Code Section nine hundred twenty-two subsection g one. He received an eighty-seven month sentence after the district court calculated his offense level based on prior convictions for aggravated assault and drug offenses. Broughton appealed, arguing the sentence was procedurally and substantively unreasonable and that his prior convictions did not qualify as crimes of violence.
The court’s reasoning
The court applied a two-step process to review the sentence. First, it found the district court did not err in concluding that Georgia aggravated assault qualifies as a crime of violence under the Sentencing Guidelines, citing United States versus Hicks. Second, the court found the sentence was substantively reasonable because it fell within the correct Guidelines range and well below the statutory maximum, and the district court had considered the defendant’s mitigating factors. Finally, the court identified a clerical error in the judgment citing the Armed Career Criminal Act, which the parties and the court had agreed did not apply, and remanded for correction.
What it means going forward
This decision reinforces that Georgia aggravated assault convictions count as crimes of violence for federal sentencing enhancements and clarifies that clerical errors in judgments citing inapplicable statutes must be corrected on remand.