United States v. Demetrius Jerome Hayes

We must decide whether being a felon in possession of a sawed-off shotgun and possessing an unregistered sawed-off shotgun are crimes of violence for purposes of the Career Offender provisions of the Sentencing Guidelines. We hold that they are and affirm Hayes’ sentence.

I

A jury convicted Hayes of being a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g), and possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun, 26 U.S.C. § 5861 (d). Because the district court found that these were crimes of violence and that Hayes had two previous felony convictions for violent crimes, it sentenced him as a career offender. Hayes appeals his conviction and sentence. We affirmed his conviction in a separate memorandum disposition. Here, we address only his sentencing objection.

We review de novo the district court’s interpretation of the Guidelines. United States v. Young, 990 F.2d 469, 471 (9th Cir.1993).

A defendant qualifies as a career offender if he is convicted of a felony that is a crime of violence and has two previous felony convictions for crimes of violence. U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1; Young , at 470. Section 4B1.2(1) defines a crime of violence as a felony offense under federal or state law…