United States v. Deron Howell, 18-3216

In 2017 Deron Howell participated in two armed robberies: one stealing $6,700 in gambling money and one stealing six pounds of marijuana; accomplices used firearms during both robberies and one victim was shot.
Howell was charged in a 10-count indictment and convicted of eight counts, including two § 924(c) counts alleging use of a firearm during predicate crimes (drug-trafficking crimes and/or crimes of violence).
The § 924(c) jury instructions identified Hobbs Act robbery and conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery as possible predicate crimes and allowed conviction under coconspirator (Pinkerton) and accomplice liability theories.
The jury convicted Howell on all counts (including both § 924(c) counts) but found no brandishing; the verdict did not specify which predicate crimes the jury relied on for the § 924(c) convictions.
At sentencing the probation office grouped the non-§924(c) counts and computed a total offense level; the district court accepted most Government objections but (apparently inadvertently) added two levels to the highest group while failing to add two levels to the lower group and then added a further two-level grouping adjustment under USSG § 3D1.4, producing an elevated Guidelines range and a 511-month sentence (including 360 mandatory months for the § 924(c) counts).
The Third Circuit affirmed the convictions but vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing because the district court plainly erred in its § 3D1.4 Guidelines calculation.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the jury instructions for the § 924(c) counts were erroneous because they listed conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery as a predicate crime of violence	Howell: instruction was improper because conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery is not a categorical crime of violence and thus an invalid § 924(c) predicate	Government: Hobbs Act robbery is a crime of violence (United States v. Walker); even if conspiracy were invalid, there was overwhelming evidence supporting liability via completed Hobbs Act robberies and coconspirator/accomplice theories	Court assumed (without deciding) conspiracy might be an invalid predicate but found any instructional error harmless given overwhelming evidence of guilt under valid theories; convictions affirmed
Whether the district court plainly erred in calculating the total offense level under USSG § 3D1.4 by adding two grouping levels improperly	Howell: district court erred in adding two levels under § 3D1.4, producing an inflated Guidelines range	Government: conceded the § 3D1.4 calculation was erroneous	Court: error was plain, affected Howell's substantial rights, and warranted correction; sentence vacated and case remanded for resentencing

United States v. Walker, 990 F.3d 316 (3d Cir.) (holding Hobbs Act robbery is a crime of violence for § 924(c) purposes)
Rosemond v. United States, 572 U.S. 65 (2014) (explaining accomplice liability for § 924(c) when aider knows an accomplice will carry a gun)
Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640 (1946) (establishing coconspirator vicarious liability theory)
United States v. Duka, 671 F.3d 329 (3d Cir. 2011) (plain-error review where jury instructions included valid and invalid theories; evidence supported only valid theory)
Molina-Martinez v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 1338 (2016) (incorrect Guidelines range can affect substantial rights)
Rosales-Mireles v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1897 (2018) (failure to correct plain Guidelines error ordinarily harms fairness and public confidence)
United States v. Zabielski, 711 F.3d 381 (3d Cir.) (improper Guidelines calculation is a significant procedural error)
United States v. Aguirre-Miron, 988 F.3d 683 (3d Cir.) (plain-error standard for unpreserved sentencing errors)