United States v. Burns

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 19-10850
Summary Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

CEDRIC D. BURNS,

Defendant-Appellant

Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 4:19-CR-39-1

Before CLEMENT, ELROD, and OLDHAM, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
*

Cedric D. Burns appeals the sentence imposed following his guilty plea
to robbing a credit union in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) and § 2. He argues
that the district court erred in applying a four-level enhancement for abduction
under the Sentencing Guidelines. See U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1(b)(4)(A). Although
Burns concedes that credit union employees were moved from the teller area
to the vault, he argues that this does not qualify as an abduction under the

*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5
TH
CIR. R. 47.5.4.
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
April 29, 2020

Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
Case: 19-10850 Document: 00515398754 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/29/2020

No. 19-10850
2
Guidelines because the employees were not moved from the building, no force
was used, the employees were not used as hostages or to facilitate an escape,
and they were not bound after the robbery.
For robbery offenses, the Sentencing Guidelines provide for a four-level
enhancement “[i]f any person was abducted to facilitate commission of the
offense or to facilitate escape.” § 2B3.1(b)(4)(A). The district court did not err
in imposing the abduction enhancement. The record shows that Burns used a
replica handgun to direct the employees, who feared for their safety, to the
vault and to a cash recycling machine to access the money that was the target
of the robbery. We have routinely held that robbery victims are abducted for
purposes of § 2B3.1(b)(4)(A), even when they never leave the building, so long
as the victims are forced, as here, to move from one area of the building to
another to aid in the commission of the offense. See United States v. Smith,
822 F.3d 755, 764 (5th Cir. 2016); see also United States v. Hefferon, 314 F.3d
211, 224-27 (5th Cir. 2002).
AFFIRMED.
Case: 19-10850 Document: 00515398754 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/29/2020