UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ MARVIN NICHOLSON (21-1768); BRYAN SORRELL │ (21-1779), │ Petitioners-Appellants, > Nos. 21-1768/1779 │ │ v. │ │ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, │ Respondent-Appellee. │ ┘

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit. Nos. 2:13-cr-20764; 2:19-cv-10600 (Nicholson); 2:19-cv-10420 (Sorrell); Paul D. Borman, District Judge.

Argued: July 20, 2023

Decided and Filed: August 16, 2023

Before: GILMAN, LARSEN, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges. _________________

COUNSEL ARGUED: Michael J, West, HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellant in 21-1768. Jeremy Gordon, JEREMY GORDON, PLLC, Mansfield, Texas, for Appellant in 21- 1779. Mark Chasteen, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Michael J, West, HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellant in 21-1768. Jeremy Gordon, JEREMY GORDON, PLLC, Mansfield, Texas, for Appellant in 21-1779. Mark Chasteen, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee. Nos. 21-1768/1779 Nicholson, et al. v. United States Page 2

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OPINION _________________

NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. An indictment charged motorcycle-gang members Marvin Nicholson and Bryan Sorrell with one count of conspiracy and one count of aiding-and- abetting assault under the Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (“VICAR”) statute. At trial, the district court instructed the jury that either of those two offenses could serve as a predicate offense for another count involving the use or carrying of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). The jury convicted both Nicholson and Sorrell on those three counts, among others. And we affirmed. Now, under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, they appeal the district court’s refusal to vacate their § 924(c) convictions. Because the § 924(c) convictions rested on a valid predicate offense, and because the jury-instruction error on an invalid predicate offense was harmless, we affirm.

I.

As “national enforcer,” Marvin Nicholson oversaw gang members like Bryan Sorrell in the Phantom Motorcycle Club (“PMC”)—an outlaw motorcycle gang and multi-state racketeering enterprise. United States v. Nicholson, 716 F. App’x 400, 404, 408 (6th Cir. 2017). To grow PMC’s reputation as the “toughest” or “baddest” outlaw motorcycle club out there, Nicholson, Sorrell, and the rest of the gang targeted rival clubs in a series of confrontations, forcefully stripping them of their leather biker vests (known as “rags”)—“the ultimate sign of disrespect.” Id. at 404. And these assaults involved violence and the use of firearms.

When a dispute left a PMC leader feeling disrespected, Nicholson and other leaders got a team together and outlined a plan to locate rival gang members and “take [their] rags by force.” Id. at 409. And it didn’t take long for the team to gather fir