Case Explained: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff– v. DEVON SHERMAN MICKINS Defendant–

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Filed: 2026-08-04 The fourth circuit affirmed Devon Sherman Mickins’s sentence after he pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The court held that the district court did not err in classifying Mickins’s prior Virginia conviction for malicious wounding under Va. Code § 18.2-51 as a crime of violence for purposes of calculating his base offense level under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Applying de novo review and the categorical approach, the court determined that the statute requires the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another person, thereby satisfying the definition of a crime of violence under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a). Consequently, the district court properly assigned Mickins a base offense level of 22 under Guidelines § 2K2.1(a)(3), and the judgment was affirmed. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.