United States of America v. Antonio Mata

Antonio Mata pled guilty to possessing with intent to distribute

methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B)(viii), and being

an armed career criminal in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C.

§§ 922(g)(1), 924(e)(1). In his plea agreement, Mata stipulated to three previous

convictions: (1) first-degree possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance

in Dallas County, Texas in 2001; (2) first-degree possession with intent to deliver a

controlled substance in Dallas County, Texas in 2001; and (3) third-degree criminal

sexual conduct with force or coercion in Rice County, Minnesota in 2004. As a

result, the district court applied the fifteen-y 1 ear mandatory minimum sentence found

in 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). Mata appeals, arguing that his 2004 Minnesota conviction

does not qualify as a predicate felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA).

Exercising de novo review, see United States v. Irons, 849 F.3d 743, 746 (8th Cir.

2017), we affirm.

I. Discussion

A. ACCA Framework

When an individual pleads guilty to, or is convicted of, violating § 922(g), the

ACCA imposes a fifteen-year mandatory minimum sentence if that individual “has

three previous convictions . . . for a violent felony or a serious drug offense.” 18

U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). Under the statute, “the term ‘violent felony’ means any crime

punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year . . . that has as an element

the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of

another.” Id. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i). “[T]he phrase ‘physical force’ means violent

force—that is, force capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person.”

Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133, 140 (2010). Thus, in order for Mata’s

Minnesota conviction to qualify as a predicate felony, the statute under which he was

convicted must have as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of force

capable of causing physical pain or injury to another person. See id.

Our determination of whether Mata’s conviction meets the statutory definition

begins with the categorical approach, under which we “look only to the fact of

1The Honorable Richard H. Kyle, United States District Judge for the District

of Minnesota.

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conviction and the statutory definition of the prior offense.” United States v.

Headbird, 832 F.3d 844, 846 (8th Cir. 2016) (internal quotation marks omitted). But

where “the statute criminalizes both conduct that does and does not qualify as a

violent felony and the statute is divisible, we apply the modified categorical approach

and may review certain judicial records to identify which section of the statute

supplied the basis for a defendant’s conviction.” Id. (internal quotation marks

omitted).

B. Minn. Stat. § 609.344(1)(c) (2004)

Mata pled guilty to a violation of Minnesota Statute section 609.344(1)(c).

This statute states: “A person who engages in sexual penetration with another person

is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree if . . . the actor uses force or

coercion to accomplish the penetration.” Minn. Stat. § 609.344(1)(c) (2004). We

conclude the statute is divisible. See Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243, 2249

(2016) (declaring a statute divisible because it “prohibited ‘the lawful entry or the

unlawful entry’ of a premises with intent to steal, so as to create two different

offenses, one more serious than the other”); Descamps v. United States, 133 S. Ct.

2276, 2281 (2013) (noting that a “divisible . . . statute sets out one or more elements

of the offense in the alternative—for example, stating that burglary involves entry

into a building or an automobile.”). The Minnesota Supreme Court has noted that

“[t]he plain language of the elements of the offense indicates that third-degree

criminal sexual conduct can be committed by coercion alone, force alone, or both

force and coercion.” State v. Leake, 699 N.W.2d 312, 323-24 (Minn. 2005); see

Mathis, 136 S. Ct. at 2248 (“‘Elements’ are the ‘constituent parts’ of a crime’s legal

definition . . . .”). In a prosecution under section 609.344(1)(c), the factfinder is

required to determine which of the three possibilities—force, coercion, or both—was

present because, under Minnesota law, the use of force constitutes a more serious

offense. See Minn. Stat. § 609.106(1)(a)(3) (stating that a violation of section

609.344 becomes a “heinous crime . . . if the offense was committed with force”);

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10 Minn. Practice Jury Instr. Guides—Criminal § 12.21 & cmt. (2015). Accordingly,

because Minnesota Statute section 609.344 “list[s] elements in the alternative, and

thereby define[s] multiple crimes,” it is a divisible statute. See Mathis, 136 S. Ct. at

2249. Because this offense can be committed by coercion rather than force, we will

assume that subsection (1)(c) is also over-inclusive.2

We therefore apply the modified categorical approach to determine whether

Mata pled guilty to using force, coercion, or both to accomplish the offense. See

Headbird, 832 F.3d at 846. “Under that approach,” we may “look[] to a limited class

of documents (for example, the indictment, jury instructions, or plea agreement and

colloquy) to determine what crime, with what elements, a defendant was convicted

of.” Mathis, 136 S. Ct. at 2249. The record evidence in this case includes Mata’s

2014 plea agreement and the plea colloquy from the 2004 Minnesota state case. In

the transcript of the plea colloquy from the 2004 conviction, the following exchange

between Mata and the state court judge is recorded:

The Court: First of all, when you had sex with her, she was saying no?

The Defendant: Yes.

Though Mata makes no distinct argument 2 that the coercion element in this

subsection could constitute a nonviolent felony, he broadly asserts that “when a

statute such as Minnesota’s sweeps non-violent conduct and violent conduct together,

the prior conviction cannot count as an ACCA predicate felony.” Appellant’s Br. 14.

Moreover, there are a limited number of possible outcomes: a statute can concern

violent conduct, nonviolent conduct, or a combination of the two. For the reasons

discussed infra, the statute clearly proscribes at least some conduct that comports

with the ACCA’s generic version of a violent felony. So we are left either with a

statute concerning only violent conduct or a mixture of nonviolent and violent

conduct. Given the lack of a distinct argument on whether the coercion prong of this

subsection meets the ACCA definition of a violent felony and our determination that

the issue has no bearing on this case, we leave that question for another day. See

United States v. Lopez-Zepeda, 466 F.3d 651, 654 (8th Cir. 2006).

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The Court: She might have said yes or maybe earlier, but at that point

she was saying, no, I don’t want to have sex with you?

The Defendant: Um-hum.

The Court: Secondly, the sex involved penetration. Your penis entered

her vaginal area?

The Defendant: Yes, your Honor.

The Court: Okay. Third, you used your strength, your force to have the

sex?

The Defendant: Yes, your Honor.

The Court: She was trying to push you off, say, no, get away, and you

were stronger and could force yourself onto her; is that true?

The Defendant: Yes.

R. at 23. Nowhere in this transcript does the court question Mata in a similar manner

regarding coercion. Thus, Mata pled guilty to using force to accomplish sexual

penetration.

Our court has previously found that the use of force to accomplish sexual

penetration in violation of section 609.344(1)(c) satisfies the “crime of violence”

enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2, comment. (n.1(B)(iii)).3 See Lopez-Zepeda,

466 F.3d at 653-54. And, given “their nearly identical definitions, we construe

‘violent felony’ under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii) (the Armed Career Criminal Act)

and ‘crime of violence’ under the Guidelines as interchangeable, including the

corresponding force clauses and residual clauses.” United States v. Schaffer, 818

F.3d 796, 798 n.2 (8th Cir.) (internal quotation marks omitted), cert. denied, 137 S.

Ct. 410 (2016). Mata advances no argument for overruling or distinguishing Lopez-

3Although this section has been renumbered, the critical language has remained

the same. See U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2, comment. (n.2) (“Crime of violence” means . . . any

. . . offense under federal, state, or local law that has as an element the use, attempted

use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.”).

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Zapata, so we are bound to follow the conclusions reached in that case. See Maxfield

v. Cintas Corp., No. 2, 487 F.3d 1132, 1135 (8th Cir. 2007).

The enhancement was properly applied.4



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In a pro se submission, Mata also argues 4 that the single-sentence rule

presented in U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(a)(2) requires the conclusion that his two drug related

offenses in Texas count as a single offense for the purpose of calculating the number

of predicate felonies under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). We disagree. The statute itself

specifies that such offenses count separately when “committed on occasions different

from one another.” § 924(e)(1). Here, Mata sold narcotics to an undercover officer

on two occasions five days apart, so they are separate offenses under the ACCA. See

United States v. Long, 320 F.3d 795, 801-02 (8th Cir. 2003) (noting that “the ACCA

is triggered by the criminal episodes that underlie a defendant’s convictions,” and

holding that each of three separate deliveries “constitutes a ‘conviction’ of a serious

drug offense for ACCA purposes”).

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Because Mata “has three previous convictions . . . for a violent felony or a

serious drug offense,” we affirm the district court’s application of the fifteen-year mandatory minimum sentence found in 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1).