Crime of Violence – Hobbs Act Robbery

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Dejuan A. Worthen

Case No.: 21-2950

Officials: Flaum, Scudder, and St. Eve, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Crime of Violence – Hobbs Act Robbery

Worthen, his brother Darryl, and their cousin Darion Harris planned to rob a gun store near North Vernon, Indiana and, if necessary, shoot the store owner, Scott Maxie, in the process. During the robbery, Darryl shot and killed Maxie. Worthen and Harris then loaded a large cache of guns into Darryl’s car and the trio drove away. The police apprehended Worthen soon after. Worthen asks the Seventh Circuit to reconsider whether Hobbs Act robbery—even more specifically, aiding and abetting a Hobbs Act robbery—is a crime of violence for purposes of the sentencing enhancement Congress included in 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A). The Seventh Circuit’s analysis of accessory liability clearly follows from the text of 18 U.S.C. § 2 itself, as well as the universal principle, emphasized by the Supreme Court in Duenas-Alvarez, that criminal law treats principals and aiders and abettors alike The Seventh Circuit concluded that it is.

Affirmed.

Decided 03/02/23

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