United States v. Ishmael Abdullah, 905 F.3d 739

Abdullah pled guilty to (1) conspiracy to distribute ≥100g heroin (21 U.S.C. §§ 841, 846) and (2) being a felon in possession of a firearm (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)).
A PSR attributed at least 700 grams of heroin to Abdullah and applied a 4-level organizer/leader enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(a).
The PSR also treated Abdullah as a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 based in part on a 2015 New Jersey conviction for third-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (N.J.S.A. § 2C:12-1(b)(2)).
The District Court found the New Jersey conviction categorically qualified as a “crime of violence” under the guidelines’ elements clause and set Abdullah’s offense level at 34 (minimum for career offenders facing ≥25-year statutory maximum), yielding a Guidelines range of 188–235 months.
The court sentenced Abdullah to 176 months’ imprisonment on the drug count (concurrent 120 months on the firearm count). Abdullah appealed, arguing primarily that the New Jersey aggravated assault conviction is not a categorical “crime of violence.”

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether N.J.S.A. § 2C:12-1(b)(2) (3d‑deg aggravated assault with a deadly weapon) is a categorical "crime of violence" under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a)(1)	Abdullah: statute does not necessarily require use of violent physical force; "bodily injury" can be minor and New Jersey distinguishes bodily injury from use of force	Government: subsection requires attempting or causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon, which necessarily entails use/attempted use/threatened use of physical force	Affirmed: conviction categorically qualifies as a crime of violence under the elements clause
Whether § 2C:12-1(b) is divisible and whether the specific subsection of conviction (b)(2) can be identified	Abdullah: impliedly conceded divisibility but contested substantive force requirement	Government: statute is divisible; plea and judgment identify (b)(2)	Affirmed: statute is divisible; modified categorical approach permits identifying (b)(2) as the offense of conviction
Applicability of § 3B1.1 organizer/leader enhancement and 700g drug-quantity attribution	Abdullah: court erred in finding him responsible for ≥700g and in applying organizer/leader enhancement	Government: factual findings supported PSR and enhancements	Not reached on merits: court declined to decide because career-offender status makes those challenges moot (career-offender sets offense level ≥34)

United States v. Ramos, 892 F.3d 599 (3d Cir. 2018) (aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in a sister state is categorically a crime of violence under the elements clause)
United States v. Castleman, 572 U.S. 157 (Sup. Ct. 2014) (knowing or intentional causation of bodily injury necessarily involves use of physical force)
Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133 (Sup. Ct. 2010) ("physical force" construed as force capable of causing pain or injury)
Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243 (Sup. Ct. 2016) (distinguishing elements from means for divisible statutes in categorical approach)
United States v. Chapman, 866 F.3d 129 (3d Cir. 2017) (standard of review and treatment of "crime of violence" under career-offender guideline)