UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, │ Plaintiff-Appellee, │ No. 23-1212 > │ v. │ │ JONATHAN-MICHAEL BROWN, │ Defendant-Appellant. │ ┘

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids. No. 1:22-cr-00080-1—Jane M. Beckering, District Judge.

Decided and Filed: November 22, 2023

Before: SILER, THAPAR, and READLER, Circuit Judges.

_________________

COUNSEL ON BRIEF: Geoffrey Upshaw, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Appellant. Andrew Byerly Birge, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Appellee. _________________

OPINION _________________

THAPAR, Circuit Judge. After using a false ID to buy twenty-five firearms, Jonathan- Michael Brown pled guilty to several fraud offenses. The district court enhanced Brown’s sentence because he had a stolen gun when police arrested him. Brown argues that the stolen gun wasn’t relevant to his sentencing. But because Brown possessed twenty-five other stolen firearms—those he fraudulently purchased—we affirm. No. 23-1212 United States v. Brown Page 2

I.

Jonathan-Michael Brown created a driver’s license with his photo and someone else’s identity. He also made credit cards using that identity, pulling account numbers from the dark web. Then, over the span of two months, Brown used those fraudulent documents to purchase twenty-five firearms, which he ultimately sold.

Brown’s fortunes soon changed. As he’d done before, Brown walked into a gun store, picked out a firearm, and presented a fraudulent license and credit card. This time, however, a store employee recognized Brown from a prior incident and called the police.

As police arrived, Brown drove away in a rented U-Haul. Officers followed Brown and conducted a traffic stop. During the stop, they found Brown’s fraudulent license and five false credit cards in a wallet on the passenger seat. Officers also found between the front seats a gun that had been reported stolen a year and a half earlier. They arrested Brown.

After being arrested, Brown recruited a friend to continue his scheme. He created false credit cards and gave them to his friend. The friend used those cards to purchase thirty-nine firearms. In total, Brown and his friend fraudulently purchased $56,000 in guns over three months.

Eventually, Brown pled guilty to aggravated identity theft, using a false ID during the purchase of a firearm, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(a)(6), 1028A(a)(1), 1343, 1349. The district court enhanced Brown’s sentencing range because Brown had a stolen firearm in the U-Haul when police arrested him. See U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(4)(A). The court then sentenced Brown to 120 months’ imprisonment. Brown appeals.

II.

The Sentencing Guidelines instruct courts to enhance a defendant’s sentencing range if the defendant “possessed” a “stolen” firearm. Id. (cleaned up). Brown argue