United States v. Vernon Webster ( 2018 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 17-2758
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee
v.
Vernon Montrell Webster, also known as Webster Connell Spunky, Jr., also
known as Tracy Connell Webster, Jr.
lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Northern District of Iowa - Waterloo
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Submitted: June 11, 2018
Filed: July 11, 2018
[Unpublished]
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Before LOKEN, GRUENDER, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Vernon Webster pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, see
18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and he received an enhanced sentence pursuant to the Armed
Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), see id. § 924(e). Webster now appeals his sentence,
arguing that the district court1 erred in concluding that his three prior Wisconsin
convictions for burglary of a building or dwelling qualify as violent felonies under
the ACCA. See Wisc. Stat. § 943.10(1)(a), (2)(a) (1978). Before the district court,
however, Webster acknowledged the controlling authority of United States v. Lamb,
in which we held that an identical burglary conviction qualified as a violent felony.
See 847 F.3d 928, 930 (8th Cir. 2017), cert. denied, 138 S. Ct. 1438 (2018). On
appeal, Webster argues that Lamb was wrongly decided and that it should be
overruled. However, “[i]t is a cardinal rule in our circuit that one panel is bound by
the decision of a prior panel.” See United States v. Nelson, 589 F.3d 924, 925 (8th
Cir. 2009) (per curiam). Thus, in light of our decision in Lamb, we conclude that the
district court did not err in sentencing Webster as an armed career criminal.
Accordingly, we affirm Webster’s sentence.
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1
The Honorable Linda R. Reade, United States District Judge for the Northern
District of Iowa.
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