Rivera v. United States, No. 11-5155 (2d Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePetitioner pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm after having been convicted of a felony and was sentenced pursuant to the Armed Career Criminal Act of 1984 (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. 924(e), to a mandatory minimum term of fifteen years imprisonment. Petitioner subsequently sought review of the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence, arguing that changes in state law that lowered the maximum sentence applicable to a prior state court conviction rendered him no longer subject to sentencing under the ACCA. The court held that petitioner's prior drug convictions counted as a predicate "serious drug offense" under the ACCA. Coupled with the pair of violent felonies (robbery and attempted assault), petitioner's criminal record included three ACCA predicate felonies. Thus, the district court did not err by imposing the sentencing enhancement and, therefore, properly denied petitioner's motion. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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