United States v. Bryan Granbois

In this appeal we hold that a prior conviction for abusive sexual contact under 18 U.S.C. § 2244 (a)(3) constitutes a conviction of a “crime of violence” for purposes of the Career Offender Guideline, U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1. Accordingly, we affirm the appellant Bryan Granbois’s sentence.

BACKGROUND

After a jury trial, Granbois was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153 and 2241(c). At sentencing, the district court determined that Granbois was a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1. The court found that Granbois’s two prior convictions for abusive sexual conduct — a 1996 conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 2244 (a)(3) and a 1998 conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 2244 (a)(1) — qualified as “crimes of violence” within the meaning of the Guideline.

Although Granbois conceded that his 1998 conviction was a “crime of violence,” he argued that his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 2244 (a)(3) was not. The court rejected this argument and sentenced Granbois as a career offender.

Absent the career offender enhancement, Granbois’s total offense level would have been 33 and his criminal history category would have been IV, resulting in a Guideline range of…