United States v. Rico-Mejia

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The Fifth Circuit withdrew the prior opinion and substituted this opinion. The court held that the district court erred by imposing a sixteen-level enhancement under USSG 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) based on a prior conviction for terroristic threatening in violation of Arkansas law. Even if the district court correctly resorted to the modified categorical approach, the Arkansas conviction could not constitute a crime of violence because it lacked physical force as an element. Because the Government failed to meet its heavy burden to convincingly demonstrate that the district court would have imposed the same sentence regardless of its erroneous calculation, the court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing. View "United States v. Rico-Mejia" on Justia Law