United States v. Troy M. Hill

Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·Decided December 18, 2025·No. 23-11756·Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

In the

United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

No. 23-11756

Non-Argument Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

TROY M. HILL, Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 4:21-cr-00051-AW-MAF-1

Before NEWSOM, GRANT, and TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges.

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2 Opinion of the Court 23-11756

PER CURIAM:

Troy M. Hill was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(e). The District Court applied a sentence enhancement under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) and sentenced Hill to 300 months’ imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release with various conditions attached. Hill appeals the application of the enhancement and some of the conditions placed on his supervised release . We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

I.

A grand jury indicted Hill on one count of possession with intent to distribute alpha-Pyrrolidinoisohexanophenone, better known as “molly,” in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(c); one count of knowingly possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1)(A)(i); and one count of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(e). However , the grand jury later issued a superseding indictment for one count of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(e). 1 The superseding indictment also listed Hill’s prior Florida convictions2 and asserted, in a section

1 Section 924(e) is the Armed Career Criminal Act.

2 It listed seven Florida convictions: (1) a 1996 conviction for resisting an officer

with violence, carrying a concealed firearm, and armed trespass; (2) a 2000 conviction for possession of crack cocaine and tampering with physical evidence ; (3) a 2002 conviction for felony battery and false imprisonment; (4)

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23-11756 Opinion of the Court 3

entitled “Enhanceable Prior Convictions,” that before Hill committed the instant offense, he “had at least three previous convictions for a violent felony, a serious drug offense, or both, committed on occasions different from one another.”

Hill proceeded to trial pro se with the aid of standby counsel.

On the first day, the Government presented Hill with the option to stipulate that his ACCA predicate offenses occurred on occasions different from one another. The Court explained to Hill that his sentencing range would be different if he had three qualifying offenses , that it looked like his predicate offenses were committed years apart based on what was in the indictment, and that he could stipulate to having committed the offenses on different occasions. The conversation continued, an excerpt of which follows:

The Court: Let me ask you this, sir: Do you want to take the position that a jury ought to determine whether those were on separate occasions or do you not take that position? If you don’t take that position – Hill: You’re saying that if I don’t – if I don’t take that position, does the law – is there a law that allows – like, within this circuit that allows, not policy, but law that allows [the Government] to present evidence for it to be decided by the jury? That’s –

another 2002 conviction for possession of cocaine; (5) a March 2006 conviction for sale or possession of cocaine with intent to sell within 1000 feet of a church; (6) a May 2006 conviction for sale of cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver; and (7) a 2016 conviction for possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell or deliver and sale of a controlled substance.

4 Opinion of the Court 23-11756

The Court: Whether this separate occasions inquiry is a jury determination is not settled in this circuit. I can tell you this: If it’s your – if you are asserting that a jury ought to decide it, then we will have a jury decide it. Hill: I am not asserting that a jury – The Court: Okay. Then it sounds like we don’t have an issue. If you are waiving a right to a jury determination of whether your prior offenses were committed on separate occasions, then we are done with this and it will be addressed at sentencing by the judge if you are convicted. You can talk to [your standby counsel] about this, but we need to –

(Pause in proceedings)

Hill: Your Honor? The Court: Yes, sir. Hill: I guess I stipulate to it. I don’t want to sign anything , but I stipulate – I don’t – yeah . . . The Court: You don’t have to sign it on the [issue]. If you are saying that you don’t want the jury to decide whether you have three offenses on different occasions , that’s fine. You can just say that. Hill: I don’t want the jury to decide that. The Court: Okay. Then that’s something I will decide at sentencing if you are convicted, whether they were

23-11756 Opinion of the Court 5

on separate occasions, or whether they qualify in the first place, which would be a legal determination that the jury wouldn’t have anyway. Okay? Hill: All right. That same day, Hill informed the Court that he wanted his standby counsel to represent him in the trial. Hill was ultimately found guilty of the indicted offense.

The probation office subsequently filed a draft presentence investigation report (PSI). The PSI stated that Hill had at least three prior convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses, including : (1) a 1996 conviction for resisting an officer with violence, in violation of Fla. Stat. § 843.01, which Hill was charged with in 1995; (2) a March 2006 conviction for selling or possessing cocaine with intent to sell within 1000 feet of a church, in violation of Fla. Stat. § 893.13(1)(E)1, which Hill was charged with on August 10, 2005; (3) a May 2006 conviction for selling or possessing cocaine with the intent to sell or deliver, in violation of Fla. Stat. § 893.13(1)(A)1, which Hill was charged with on August 31, 2005; and (4) a March 2016 conviction for possessing cocaine with the intent to sell, manufacture, or deliver and selling a controlled substance , in violation of Fla. Stat. § 893.13(1)(A)1, which Hill was charged with in 2012.

Based on these prior offenses and convictions, the draft PSI stated that Hill was an armed career criminal and subject to an enhanced sentence under the ACCA. It calculated a base offense level of 24 for the instant offense of being a felon in possession of a

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firearm and ammunition. It added a four-level enhancement for possessing the firearm and ammunition in connection with another felony offense,3 a two-level enhancement for creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to another, 4 and another four- level enhancement for being an armed career criminal. Hill’s total offense level was 34 and his criminal history category was VI, giving Hill a Guidelines range of 262 to 327 months’ imprisonment followed by two to five years of supervised release. The draft PSI also included a section entitled “Recommended Conditions of Supervision ,” which stated: “As outlined in the Overview of Probation and Supervised Release Conditions (available at www.uscourts.gov) . . . , it is recommended that any term of supervision be under the mandatory and standard conditions adopted for use in the Northern District of Florida.” It also recommended six specific “special conditions.” 5 Hill made multiple objections to this draft PSI, two of which are relevant here. He first objected to the ACCA enhancement

3 The draft PSI stated that Hill possessed the firearm and ammunition in con-

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