United States v. Demetrius Holmes, 690 F. App'x 381

Holmes pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute ≥500 grams of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846.
At sentencing the government argued Holmes qualified as a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 based on two prior Tennessee convictions: facilitation of aggravated robbery (2005 conviction) and voluntary manslaughter (plea in 2006).
Holmes contested the career-offender designation, challenging the reliability of the state-court judgment documents (e.g., misdated certification, incorrect DOB/SSN).
The government introduced alternative corroborating evidence: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals opinions, fingerprint matches, booking photos, and evidence Holmes used multiple SSNs.
The district court credited the corroborating evidence and found both prior convictions qualified as career-offender predicates, sentencing Holmes to 188 months’ imprisonment.
On appeal, Holmes argued the district court clearly erred in finding the predicates; the Sixth Circuit affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether facilitation-of-aggravated-robbery conviction is an adequate career-offender predicate	Holmes: the Knox County judgment is unreliable (certified in 2016, date errors)	Government: appellate opinion, fingerprint match, and booking photos reliably establish the 2005 conviction	Court: Not clear error; corroborating evidence supports predicate conviction
Whether a judgment filed/certified after the federal offense date means it is not a "prior" conviction	Holmes: clerk’s 2016 certification makes it not a prior felony under § 4B1.1	Government: Guideline § 4B1.2(c) uses date guilt was established (jury verdict in 2005)	Court: Held conviction date is when guilt established; conviction was prior to federal offense
Whether voluntary manslaughter conviction is reliably established despite incorrect personal identifiers on judgment	Holmes: wrong DOB/SSN undermines reliability	Government: certified judgment plus fingerprint match and evidence Holmes used the listed SSN	Court: Not clear error; corroborating evidence supports predicate conviction
Standard of review for sentencing factual findings	Holmes: challenges district court factual findings	Government: asserts district court’s findings supported by record	Court: Reviews for clear error and finds none

United States v. Hockenberry, 730 F.3d 645 (6th Cir.) (reviews sentencing factual findings for clear error)
United States v. Chisom, [citation="249 F. App'x 406"] (6th Cir.) (government may prove prior convictions with multiple forms of corroborating evidence)
United States v. Baumgartner, [citation="581 F. App'x 522"] (6th Cir.) (discussing judicial irregularities and consequences for record reliability)