United States of America v. Hammoud, 381 F.3d 316 4th Cir. 2004 en banc . Subsequently, the Supreme Court…

Filed: April 27, 2005
PUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 03-4253
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
MOHAMAD YOUSSEF HAMMOUD, a/k/a Ali Abousaleh,
a/k/a Ali Albousaleh,
Defendant - Appellant,
_____________________________________________
CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS; NATIONAL
COALITION TO PROTECT POLITICAL FREEDOM;
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE
LAWYERS; NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD,
Amici Supporting Appellant.
ORDER
_______________
This court, sitting en banc, previously affirmed Mohamad
Youssef Hammoud’s convictions and sentence. See United States v.
Hammoud, 381 F.3d 316 (4th Cir. 2004) (en banc). Subsequently, the
Supreme Court granted certiorari, vacated our decision, and
remanded for reconsideration in light of United States v. Booker,

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125 S. Ct. 738 (2005). See United States v. Hammoud, 125 S. Ct.
1051 (2005).
Because the order of the Supreme Court does not affect our
resolution of Hammoud’s challenges to his convictions and the
calculation of his guideline range, we reinstate those portions of
our prior opinion. See Hammoud, 381 F.3d at 325-44, 354-57.
However, the sentence imposed on Hammoud exceeded the maximum
sentence authorized by the jury verdict alone, see United States v.
Hughes, No. 03-4172, 2005 WL 628224, at *5 (4th Cir. Mar. 16,
2005), and the Government cannot prove that this error, which
Hammoud preserved in the district court, did not affect Hammoud’s
substantial rights, see Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(a). We therefore
vacate Hammoud’s sentence and remand for resentencing under the
advisory guidelines regime set forth in Booker, 125 S. Ct. at 756-
57, 764-65.
Entered at the direction of Chief Judge Wilkins with the
concurrences of Judges Widener, Wilkinson, Niemeyer, Williams,
Michael, Motz, Traxler, King, Gregory, Shedd, and Duncan.
For the Court
/s/ Patricia S. Connor
Clerk

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