USA v. Antonio Brown
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Vacated
Antonio Brown appealed his 17-year sentence for Hobbs Act robberies, alleging the government breached his plea agreement and that the district court wrongly applied the two-level “physical restraint” enhancement. The Eleventh Circuit held there was no breach but concluded that a 2025 amendment to § 2B3.1(b)(4)(B) (applicable retroactively) rendered the enhancement improper, so it affirmed Brown’s convictions but vacated his sentence and remanded for resentencing.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether a robbery defendant who merely brandishes a firearm and orders victims to comply thereby "physically restrains" them for purposes of the two-level enhancement in U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1(b)(4)(B).
Circuit Positions
Broad interpretation – psychological coercion such as brandishing a firearm that leaves victims no alternative counts as physical restraint.
Narrow interpretation – enhancement applies only when defendant restricts movement through physical contact or confinement (tied, bound, locked up).
Conflict Summary
Five circuits (including the Eleventh) construed § 2B3.1(b)(4)(B) broadly, holding that pointing a gun or otherwise creating circumstances that leave victims no realistic alternative constitutes physical restraint. Five other circuits required actual physical contact or confinement (e.g., tying, binding, locking up) before the enhancement can apply.