UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _______________

No. 21-2639 _______________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

v.

WILLIAM VALENTIN, Appellant _______________

On Appeal from the United States District Court For the District of New Jersey (D.C. No. 2-18-cr-0403-001) District Judge: Honorable Madeline C. Arleo _______________

Argued November 29, 2023 Before: JORDAN, MONTGOMERY-REEVES, and McKEE, Circuit Judges

(Filed: October 7, 2024) _______________ Anthony J. Pope [ARGUED] The Pope & Hascup Law Group 60 Park Place – Suite 1101 Newark, NJ 07102 Annette Verdesco [ARGUED] Caruso Smith & Picinni 60 Route 46 E Fairfield, NJ 07004 Counsel for Appellant Mark E. Coyne John F. Romano Office of United States Attorney 970 Broad Street Room 700 Newark, NJ 07102 Counsel for Appellee _______________

OPINION OF THE COURT _______________ JORDAN, Circuit Judge.

William Valentin, along with four other men, robbed a jewelry store in New Jersey. During the robbery, Valentin pointed a loaded gun at a store employee. In the course of preparing for the crime and then carrying it out, stealing nearly $900,000 in jewelry, the robbers left behind a mountain of evidence: video footage, fingerprints, identifiable DNA, cell phone records, location data, and more. A jury convicted Valentin of Hobbs Act robbery, conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, use of a firearm during a crime of violence, and

2 conspiracy to use a firearm during a crime of violence. The District Court then sentenced him to a term of imprisonment within the applicable sentencing guidelines range. On appeal, Valentin raises a series of challenges to the convictions and sentence. We will affirm and take the occasion to clarify that brandishing a firearm during a robbery is itself a crime of violence under the guidelines. I. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

In September 2017, Valentin, along with Carlos Velasquez and two other men, crashed through a security gate and robbed Elegant Creations, a jewelry store in the Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Valentin, wearing a Mets cap, pointed a loaded gun with an extended magazine at a store employee who fled the scene, screaming and “scared” that she was “gonna die.” (Supp. App. at 73.) After filling bags with jewelry, watches, and, among other custom items, a Yankees pendant, the men escaped through another store and met Jonathan Arce, Valentin’s cousin, who was waiting in a getaway car.

Velasquez, who became a government witness, testified at trial that Valentin had planned the details of the robbery and recruited him to participate with “a few other people[,]” and that Arce procured the getaway car – a black Audi with tinted windows. (Supp. App. at 400.) He further testified that, a week before the robbery, the group conducted a “dry run” and drove the Audi to the mall parking lot, leaving their phones in Newark, New Jersey. (Supp. App. at 405.) On the day of the robbery, the men drove the Audi to a tire shop, where they

3 changed a flat tire and put a stolen license plate on top of the car’s real plate. During the robbery, the men left their phones in their cars and used burner phones to call lookouts on the highway and at the mall to ensure favorable conditions for the plan.

Following the robbery, Arce wiped the car down to remove fingerprints, and he and Valentin attempted to use a heat gun to remove the tint from the windows, which left behind a glue residue. That evening, Valentin paid Velasquez $10,000 in cash for his role in the robbery.

The police soon located the abandoned