PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 23-6604

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

DAVID WILBERT SHANTON, SR.,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. Catherine C. Blake, Senior District Judge. (1:08-cr-00142-CCB-1; 1:14-cv-03194-CCB)

Argued: September 25, 2024 Decided: January 14, 2025

Before DIAZ, Chief Judge, and NIEMEYER and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Niemeyer wrote the opinion, in which Chief Judge Diaz and Judge Quattlebaum joined.

ARGUED: Paresh S. Patel, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Greenbelt, Maryland, for Appellant. Jason Daniel Medinger, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: James Wyda, Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Erek L. Barron, United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee. USCA4 Appeal: 23-6604 Doc: 35 Filed: 01/14/2025 Pg: 2 of 13

NIEMEYER, Circuit Judge:

The oft-repeated question of whether a state crime is a “violent felony” as used in

the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1), is presented here with respect to

whether the Maryland crime of robbery, Md. Code Ann., Crim. Law § 3-402, is such a

crime. If it is, then the defendant, David Shanton, Sr., was properly subject to an enhanced

15-year minimum sentence for his convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (prohibiting

gun possession by a felon), because he had three previous convictions for a violent felony.

If not, he was subject to only a 10-year maximum sentence for such an offense. See id.

§ 924(a)(2) (2006) (amended 2022). We conclude that Maryland robbery does qualify as

a violent felony and therefore affirm the judgment of the district court.

I

In October 2007, about one month after Shanton finished serving a 20-year sentence

for bank robbery, he and his grandson committed an armed bank robbery in Hagerstown,

Maryland. During the robbery, Shanton, armed with a shotgun, threatened to kill anyone

who called the police. He also pointed the shotgun at a deputy sheriff while fleeing the

scene and escaped with close to $34,000. One month later, Shanton and another

accomplice attempted to rob a different bank in Hagerstown, but this time Shanton was

apprehended. He was indicted for both bank robberies and related conduct and convicted

by a jury on two counts of armed bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113; one count

of discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of

§ 924(c)(1)(A)(iii); one count of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of

2 USCA4 Appeal: 23-6604 Doc: 35 Filed: 01/14/2025 Pg: 3 of 13

violence, in violation of § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii); and two counts of possessing a firearm after

having been convicted of a felony, in violation of § 922(g)(1).

The presentence report, prepared in advance of sentencing, indicated that Shanton

qualified for a sentence enhancement on his two § 922(g)(1) convictions under the Armed

Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), which provides for a 15-year minimum sentence for a

per

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