USA v. Shamar LaJuan Thomas

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 19-10489
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 8:18-cr-00099-EAK-JSS-7

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

SHAMAR LAJUAN THOMAS,
a.k.a. Baby,

Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
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(January 9, 2020)
Before ROSENBAUM, BRANCH, and FAY, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
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Shamar Thomas appeals his 420-month total sentence after a jury convicted
him of one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18
U.S.C. § 1951(a); one count of Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
§ 1951(b)(3); and one count of knowingly using and carrying a firearm in relation to
the Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(ii), (c)(1)(C), and
2. He argues that the district court committed clear error when it enhanced his
sentence for what it determined to be relevant conduct under U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3(a)(1).
We review de novo the district court’s interpretation of the Sentencing
Guidelines and accept its factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous. United
States v. Barner, 572 F.3d 1239, 1247 (11th Cir. 2009). An error in the district
court’s calculation of the guideline range warrants vacating the sentence, unless the
error is harmless. Id. A guideline miscalculation is harmless if the district court
would have imposed the same sentence without the error. Id. at 1248. The harmless-
error standard is met if it is “clear beyond a reasonable doubt that the error
complained of did not contribute to the [sentence] obtained.” United States v. Paz,
405 F.3d 946, 948 (11th Cir. 2005) (citation omitted).
Here, we need not determine whether the district court erred in determining
relevant conduct under U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3(a)(1). Even if the district court erred in
this regard, any error was harmless. It had no bearing on the ultimate offense level
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the district court determined. That is so because Thomas’s guideline range would
have been the same even if there was an error in ascertaining relevant conduct.
Thomas was sentenced as a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 because
his current conviction for Hobbs Act robbery constituted a felony crime of violence,
In re Fleur, 824 F.3d 1337, 1341 (11th Cir. 2016), and he had two prior felony crime-
of-violence convictions for Florida felony battery and Florida aggravated assault,
see United States v. Vail-Bailon, 868 F.3d 1293 (2017) (en banc); Turner v. Warden
Coleman FCI (Medium), 709 F.3d 1328, 1337-38 (11th Cir. 2013), abrogated on
other grounds by United States v. Hill, 799 F.3d 1318, 1321 n.1 (11th Cir. 2015);
see also United States v. Golden, 854 F.3d 1256, 1257 (11th Cir. 2017). Under
§ 4B1.1(b), “if the offense level for a career offender from the table [in that section]
is greater than the offense level otherwise applicable,” the offense level from the
table applies. U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(b).
So here, even if the district court erred in determining relevant conduct, the
career- offender guideline—not the offense guideline—controlled the ultimate
offense level and guideline range, since it was higher than the offense level otherwise
applicable. As a result, no matter whether Thomas received the enhancements for
conduct that the district court determined to constitute relevant conduct under §
1B1.3(a)(1), the offense level generated by the career-offender table was going to
replace his initial offense level. Therefore, any potential error in determining the
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special offense characteristic enhancements the district court determined to be
applicable based on relevant conduct under § 1B1.3(a)(1) must be harmless because
it is clear that the error complained of did not contribute to the sentence imposed, as
Thomas would have been sentenced pursuant to the base offense level as a career
offender under § 4B1.1, regardless. See Paz, 405 F.3d at 948. Accordingly, we
affirm.
AFFIRMED.
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