UNITED STATES v. GORDON (2017)

[Unpublished]

Donald Gordon, Jr., pleaded guilty to being a felon possessing a firearm and to possessing a stolen firearm. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), (j). Gordon had twice been convicted in Missouri state court of “recklessly caus[ing] serious physical injury to another person.” See Mo. Rev. Stat. § 565.060.1(3) (now codified at Mo. Rev. Stat. § 565.052.1(3)). When calculating Gordon's base offense level under the Sentencing Guidelines, the district court determined that Gordon's prior convictions were crimes of violence. See USSG § 2K2.1(a)(2). Gordon appeals, maintaining that his prior convictions were not in fact crimes of violence, and so the district court set his base offense level, and his Guidelines range, too high. While Gordon's appeal was pending, a panel of our court held that convictions under the statute that Gordon violated were not crimes of violence. See United States v. Fields, 863 F.3d 1012, 1015 (8th Cir. 2017). Because we are bound by the prior panel's decision, see United States v. Eason, 829 F.3d 633, 641 (8th Cir. 2016), we vacate Gordon's sentence and remand to the district court for resentencing.

PER CURIAM.