United States v. Salim Atif Hasan

Hasan pled guilty to unarmed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113 (a). The sole issue on appeal is whether the district court erred in sentencing him as a career offender under the Sentencing Guidelines. See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1. Resolution of the issue turns upon whether Ha-san's prior conviction for unarmed postal robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2114 is a “crime of violence” within the meaning of section 4B1.2.

I

The version of section 4B1.2 under which. Hasan was sentenced defines “crime of violence,” in relevant part, to include “any offense under federal or state law punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year that — (i) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another....” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(l)(i) (as amended effective November 1, 1989). Hasan ar gues that the crime of unarmed postal robbery does not come within this definition.

It is now well established in this circuit that, in carrying out the inquiry mandated by section 4B1.2(l)(i), “we do not look at the specific conduct involved in the defendant’s conviction, but apply the so-called ‘categorical approach’ and evaluate the crime based on…