United States v. Rivera

Rivera and others robbed Brew City Tap; three of them were armed, two with BB guns and one with a .40‐caliber handgun. They left with $857.25. Four days later, they robbed Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park, netting more than $12,000. Nearly 50 Milwaukee-area businesses suffered similar armed robberies in 2013-2015. Witnesses implicated Rivera in 30 of those robberies, but the government charged him with five counts of Hobbs Act robbery, 18 U.S.C. 1951(a) and 2 and, taking the position that Hobbs Act robbery constitutes a “crime of violence” under 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(3), added five counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. 924(c) and 2. Rivera agreed to plead guilty to two of the crime‐of-violence counts and was sentenced to the mandatory minimum of 32 years’ imprisonment plus a five‐year term of supervised release, which the judge said he was “obliged” to impose. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. Hobbs Act robbery qualifies as a “crime of violence” under 924(c) because it “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another.” The court rejected an argument that the judge’s use of “obliged” indicated a misunderstanding of the law. View "United States v. Rivera" on Justia Law