United States v. Marvin Meux, 918 F.3d 589

Marvin Meux pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
The district court applied the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) enhancement under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) based on three prior Arkansas convictions under Ark. Code § 5-64-401, treating them as "serious drug offenses."
Using the 2016 U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the court found Meux had used or possessed the firearm in connection with a crime of violence, applied USSG § 4B1.4(b)(3)(A), (c)(2), and calculated a base offense level of 34 and CHC VI; after acceptance points, the advisory range was 188–235 months.
The district court sentenced Meux to 210 months. Meux appealed, arguing (1) his Arkansas convictions do not qualify as ACCA serious drug offenses, and (2) his firearm possession was not in connection with a crime of violence.
The government conceded § 5-64-401(c) was overbroad (criminalizing mere possession) but noted Meux was convicted under § 5-64-401(a) (manufacturing, delivering, or possessing with intent to deliver), and Shepard-authorized records showed convictions for two deliveries and one possession with intent to deliver.
The underlying firearms incident involved Meux pointing a gun at a person trying to repossess his car; the district court did not err in applying the ACCA and the Guidelines enhancements.

Issue	Meux's Argument	Government's Argument	Held
Whether Meux's prior Arkansas convictions qualify as ACCA "serious drug offenses"	§ 5-64-401 is overbroad; convictions thus cannot be ACCA predicates	Meux was convicted under § 5-64-401(a), which is divisible and covers manufacturing/delivery/possess-with-intent, and Shepard records show qualifying convictions	Convictions qualify as ACCA serious drug offenses; district court correct
Whether the district court may use USSG § 4B1.4 enhancements because the firearm was used/possessed in connection with a crime of violence	Firearm possession was not connected to a crime of violence (implicit)	Facts of offense (pointing gun at repo agent) justify treating conduct as a crime of violence under USSG § 4B1.2(a)	Enhancement properly applied; no plain error

United States v. Van, 543 F.3d 963 (8th Cir.) (standard of review for ACCA predicate questions)
United States v. Boman, 873 F.3d 1035 (8th Cir.) (look to elements, not underlying facts, for predicate analysis)
Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243 (statutory alternatives that carry different punishments are elements; divisibility rule)
Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13 (permissible documents for determining the crime of conviction)
United States v. Eason, 907 F.3d 554 (8th Cir.) (application of Guidelines § 4B1.4 enhancements based on offense facts)
United States v. Maid, 772 F.3d 1118 (8th Cir.) (pointing a firearm at another can constitute threatened use of physical force under USSG § 4B1.2(a)(1))
Cothren v. State, 42 S.W.3d 543 (Ark.) (Arkansas law treats manufacturing and possess-with-intent-to-deliver as distinct offenses)
Flores-Larrazola v. Lynch, 854 F.3d 732 (5th Cir.) (treatment of Arkansas § 5-64-401 subdivisions in federal predicate analysis)