United States v. Ricky Pulley, 75 F.4th 929

Pulley pled guilty in Feb 2022 to unlawfully possessing a firearm; district court sentenced him to 87 months.
The sentencing court applied a Guidelines enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1 based on Pulley’s prior Illinois conviction for aggravated vehicular hijacking (720 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/18-3(a) and 4(a), 2005).
Pulley appealed, arguing that the pre-2012 Illinois vehicular-hijacking statute did not require a knowing mens rea and could encompass reckless conduct, and therefore could not qualify as a "crime of violence" under the Guidelines’ force clause (§ 4B1.2(a)(1)).
The court applied the categorical approach and the "realistic probability" principle to assess whether the statute necessarily required the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force.
Citing Illinois precedent and circuit decisions, the court concluded there is no realistic probability that the offense could be committed recklessly and held the prior conviction is a crime of violence under the force clause.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court’s sentence; it did not reach the enumerated-offenses clause because the force-clause holding was dispositive.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Pulley’s pre-2012 Illinois aggravated vehicular-hijacking conviction is a "crime of violence" under the Guidelines’ force clause	The statute lacks an explicit "knowing" mens rea and therefore could criminalize reckless conduct, which Borden excludes from the force clause	Even without the word "knowingly," Illinois law and precedent show the offense necessarily involves use or threat of physical force; no realistic probability of reckless conviction	Affirmed: the conviction is a crime of violence under the force clause; enhancement stands

Moncrieffe v. Holder, 569 U.S. 184 (2013) (presumption that a conviction rests on the least criminalized conduct when applying the categorical approach)
United States v. Sykes, 914 F.3d 615 (8th Cir. 2019) (held vehicular hijacking is a crime of violence under an updated Illinois statute that included "knowingly")
Borden v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 1817 (2021) (plurality) (reckless mens rea does not qualify under the force clause)
United States v. Bragg, 44 F.4th 1067 (8th Cir. 2022) (applied realistic-probability test and rejected a theory that Illinois armed robbery could be committed recklessly)
People v. Wooden, 16 N.E.3d 850 (Ill. App. Ct. 2014) (Illinois appellate court reasoned vehicular hijacking necessarily contemplates use or threat of physical force)
United States v. Brown, 916 F.3d 706 (8th Cir. 2019) (discussed interchangeability of ACCA and Guidelines crime-of-violence analyses)