United States v. Charles Mumphrey

MEMORANDUM

Charles Bo Mumphrey and his brother, Richard Nelson, were charged with robbing a bank in Las Vegas, Nevada on the morning of November 9, 2012. Nelson was apprehended outside the bank and pled guilty. Mumphrey was convicted by a jury of interference with commerce by robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 1951 . The district court found that Mumphrey’s prior convictions qualified him for a career offender enhancement under the federal sentencing guidelines, and the court imposed a 210-month custodial sentence. Mum-phrey appeals from his judgment of conviction and sentence. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

First, Mumphrey argues that the district court’s career offender enhancement to his sentence was unconstitutional because the fact of his prior convictions was not charged and found by the jury as required under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 , 120 S.Ct. 2348 , 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). However, Apprendi applies only to the finding of a fact “that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum.” Id. at 490 , 120 S.Ct. 2348 . Because the maximum statutory sentence for interference with commerce by robbery is 20 years (or 240…