# United States v. Jameel Williams

> Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit · July 2, 2025

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11088480

## Case

- **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- **Decided:** July 2, 2025
- **Precedential status:** Unpublished
- **Opinion:** Opinion
- **Nature of suit:** NEW
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11088480

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- noting that a litigant must still show that any tex- tual differences carry actual legal consequences

## Opinion text

USCA11 Case: 20-12742 Document: 80-1 Date Filed: 07/02/2025 Page: 1 of 10

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 20-12742
Non-Argument Calendar
____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
JAMEEL SHADEED WILLIAMS,

Defendant-Appellant.

____________________

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
D.C. Docket No. 8:18-cr-00095-SCB-CPT-1
____________________
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2 Opinion of the Court 20-12742

Before BRANCH, KIDD, and DUBINA, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Appellant Jameel Williams appeals his conviction and
180-month imprisonment sentence for being a felon in possession
of a firearm. First, Williams argues that the district court erred un-
der Erlinger v. United States, 602 U.S. 821, 144 S. Ct. 1840 (2024), in
applying the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”) enhancement
to his sentence based on a judicial factfinding at sentencing that the
offenses underlying his predicate convictions occurred on different
occasions, the error was structural, and, even if the error is subject
to harmless-error review, the error was not harmless. Second, Wil-
liams argues that the district court erred in applying the ACCA en-
hancement to his sentence because his predicate offenses did not
qualify as a “serious drug offense” under the ACCA. Third, Wil-
liams argues that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) is unconstitutional facially
and as applied to him under the Commerce Clause and under the
Second Amendment. Having reviewed the record and read the
parties’ briefs, we affirm Williams’s conviction and sentence.
I.
Regarding the ACCA, we review de novo whether prior of-
fenses satisfy the different occasions requirement. United States v.
Dudley, 5 F.4th 1249, 1255 (11th Cir. 2021). However, challenges
raised for the first time on appeal are reviewed for plain error. Id.
The ACCA requires that any defendant who violates
18 U.S.C. § 922(g) serve a mandatory minimum sentence of
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20-12742 Opinion of the Court 3

15 years if the defendant has 3 prior convictions for violent felonies
or serious drug offenses “committed on occasions different from
one another.” 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). The ACCA defines a “serious
drug offense,” in relevant part, as “an offense under State law, in-
volving manufacturing, distributing, or possessing with intent to
manufacture or distribute, a controlled substance (as defined in sec-
tion 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)).” Id.
§ 924(e)(2)(A)(ii).
Williams contends that the district court erred in sentencing
him pursuant to the ACCA because the judge, not a jury, relied on
court documents1 to conclude that he had 3 prior convictions for
serious drug offenses committed on different occasions. See Er-
linger v. United States, 602 U.S. at 833-34, 144 S. Ct. at 1851 (holding
that judicial factfinding by a preponderance of the evidence that a
defendant has three ACCA predicate convictions committed on dif-
ferent occasions violates the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of due
process of law and the Sixth Amendment guarantee to a jury trial).
The Court held that the ACCA predicate fact-finding must be made
by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt or freely admitted by the de-
fendant in a guilty plea. See id. The Court explained that “no par-
ticular lapse of time or distance between offenses automatically
separates a single occasion from distinct ones.” Id. at 841, 144 S.
Ct. at 1855. The Court also noted that “in many cases the occasions
inquiry will be ‘straightforward,’” such as when “a defendant’s past
offenses [are] different enough and separated by enough time and

1 See Shepherd v. United States, 544 U.S. 13, 125 S. Ct. 1254 (2005).
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space that there is little question he committed them on separate
occasions,” though the Court stressed that this finding must still be
made by a jury rather than a judge. Id. at 842, 144 S. Ct. at 1856.
The Supreme Court did not opine whether the error was
structural or subject to harmless-error review. Recently, in United
States v. Rivers, 139 F.4th 1292 (11th Cir. 2025), our court held that
Erlinger error is subject to harmless error review. Id. at 1305. Under
this review, the government bears the burden of showing beyond
a reasonable doubt that a rational jury would have found that the
defendant’s prior drug offenses all were “committed on occasions
different from one another.” Id. at 1306 (quoting 18 U.S.C. §924(e));
Dudley, 5 F.4th at 1259. Under this “fact-laden task,” the court con-
siders the amount of time between offenses, the proximity of the
locations where the offenses occurred, and whether the offenses
are part of the same scheme or achieve the same objective. Wooden
v. United States, 595 U.S. 360, 367-70, 142 S. Ct. 1063, 1069-71 (2022).
But “[i]n many cases, a single factor—especially of time or place—
can decisively differentiate occasions.” Id. at 369-70, 142 S. Ct. at
1071. “Offenses committed close in time, in an uninterrupted
course of conduct, will often count as part of one occasion; not so
offenses separated by substantial gaps in time or significant inter-
vening events.” Id. at 369, 142 S. Ct. at 1071.
The record here demonstrates that the Erlinger error in this
case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Examining the
time, location and purpose or character of Williams’s crimes, it
seems unlikely that a reasonable jury would doubt that his prior
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offenses qualified as ACCA predicate offenses. Court documents
showed that Williams sold cocaine on May 1, 2003, September 2,
2003, and April 11, 2014. Given these gaps in time between his drug
offenses, no reasonable person would believe they were commit-
ted on the same occasion. See United States v. Penn, 63 F.4th 1305,
1318 (11th Cir. 2023) (“No reasonable person would say that Penn’s
two sales of cocaine, thirty days apart, occurred on the same occa-
sion.”), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 144 S. Ct. 398 (2023). Williams
presented no evidence to contradict these dates, nor did he make a
specific argument as to why the dates are inaccurate.
In addition, the offenses were committed at different loca-
tions. One was near a church, and another was near a school.
Thus, we conclude that Williams cannot meet the harmless-error
standard as to his Erlinger challenge because he has not “raised evi-
dence sufficient to support a contrary finding” and cannot show a
reasonable probability that a jury would find that his predicate drug
convictions in 2003 and 2014 occurred on the same occasion. Thus,
we affirm as to this issue.
II.
We review de novo whether a prior conviction qualifies as a
serious drug offense for ACCA purposes if the issue is preserved;
however, we review unpreserved challenges for plain error. United
States v. Laines, 69 F.4th 1221, 1229 (11th Cir. 2023), cert. denied, ___
U.S. ___, 144 S. Ct. 2611 (2024). Under a plain error standard, the
defendant must establish that an error occurred, the error was
plain, and the error affected the defendant’s substantial rights. Id.
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6 Opinion of the Court 20-12742

(quotation marks omitted). “An error is plain if it is obvious or
clear under current law.” Id. (quotation marks omitted). Once the
defendant has made such a showing, we may exercise our “discre-
tion to notice the forfeited error if the error seriously affects the
fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Id.
(quotation marks omitted).
“To preserve an issue for appeal, one must raise an objection
that is sufficient to apprise the trial court and the opposing party of
the particular grounds upon which appellate relief will later be
sought.” United States v. Straub, 508 F.3d 1003, 1011 (11th Cir. 2007)
(quotation marks omitted). “The objection must be raised in such
clear and simple language that the trial court may not misunder-
stand it.” Id. (quotation marks omitted). General objections are
insufficient to preserve “specific sentencing issues for review.”
United States v. Carpenter, 803 F.3d 1224, 1238 (11th Cir. 2015).
However, we have also stated that “while an issue can be waived,
alternative arguments on an issue cannot.” United States v. Horn,
129 F.4th 1275, 1298 (11th Cir. 2025). “[O]nce a party has preserved
an issue, it may make any argument in support of that claim; parties
are not limited to the precise arguments they made below.” United
States v. Brown, 934 F.3d 1278, 1306-07 (11th Cir. 2019) (quotation
marks omitted).
In the district court, Williams’s argument centered around a
mens rea requirement although he claimed that Florida’s definition
of cocaine was broader than the federal definition. He maintains
that same broad argument on appeal but claims rather that the
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20-12742 Opinion of the Court 7

definitions are different because Florida’s drug schedules include
stereoisomers of cocaine, but the federal drug schedules include
only geometric and optical isomers of cocaine.
In 2003 and 2014, Florida prohibited the selling of a “con-
trolled substance,” which controlled “[c]ocaine or ecgonine, in-
cluding any of their stereoisomers, and any salt, compound, deriv-
ative, or preparation of cocaine or ecgonine.” Fla. Stat.
§§ 893.13(1)(e), 893.03(2)(a)(4) (2003); Id. §§ 893.13(c),
893.03(2)(a)(4) (2014). In 2003 and 2014, the federal government
defined cocaine as “cocaine, its salts, optical and geometric iso-
mers, and salts of isomers.” 21 U.S.C. § 812 (schedule II(a)(4))
(2003); 21 U.S.C. § 812 (schedule II(a)(4)) (2014).
Federal law governs the meaning of terms in the ACCA, and
state law governs the elements of state-law crimes. United States v.
Jackson, 55 F.4th 846, 850 (11th Cir. 2022), cert. granted, 143 S. Ct.
2457 (2023), and aff’d sub nom., Brown v. United States, 602 U.S. 101,
144 S. Ct. 1195 (2024). In determining whether a state conviction
is a “serious drug offense” under the ACCA, courts look at “the
version of state law that the defendant was actually convicted of
violating.” Id. (quotation marks omitted). Additionally, “the fed-
eral controlled-substances schedules in effect at the time of the pre-
vious state conviction,” rather than those in effect at the time of
the federal firearm offense, are used to determine whether a prior
state conviction constitutes a serious drug offense. Id. at 856.
Thus, a “prior state drug conviction constitutes an ACCA predicate
if the drugs on the federal and state schedules matched when the
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8 Opinion of the Court 20-12742

state drug offense was committed.” Brown, 602 U.S. at 119, 144 S.
Ct. at 1208.
We apply the categorical approach to determine whether a
defendant’s state conviction is a serious drug offense under the
ACCA. United States v. Jackson, 55 F.4th 846, 850 (11th Cir. 2022),
cert. granted, ___ U.S. ___, 143 S. Ct. 2457 (2023), and aff’d sub nom.,
Brown v. United States, 602 U.S. 101, 144 S. Ct. 1195 (2024). Under
the categorical approach, we consider the statutory definition of
the state offense rather than the facts of the crime itself. Id. A state
conviction qualifies only if the state statute under which the con-
viction occurred defines the offense in the same way as, or more
narrowly than, the ACCA’s definition of a serious drug offense. Id.
“The government bears the burden of establishing that an ACCA
sentencing enhancement is warranted.” United States v. Harris, 941
F.3d 1048, 1051 (11th Cir. 2019).
We apply the realistic probability test to determine whether
a state drug schedule covered more conduct than the correspond-
ing federal schedule. Chamu v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 23 F.4th 1325, 1330
(11th Cir. 2022) (noting that a litigant must still show that any tex-
tual differences carry actual legal consequences). We found that
“when a state statute with different terminology is nonetheless no
broader than the federal standard[,] no realistic probability of
broader prosecution exists.” Id. We held that the inconsistencies
between the Florida and the federal definition of cocaine did not
themselves show a realistic probability that Florida’s drug
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20-12742 Opinion of the Court 9

schedules cover more isomers of cocaine than the federal schedules
do. Id. at 1331-32.
Whether Williams can show the textual differences here
carry actual legal consequences is immaterial because under a plain
error review, he cannot show that any error is plain. We have al-
ready rejected on plain-error review the same stereoisomer-over-
breadth argument that Williams raises here because the purported
error was not clear under current law. See Laines, 69 F.4th at 1234.
Williams cites no precedent establishing that the difference be-
tween stereoisomers of cocaine, as used in Florida’s drug sched-
ules, and geometric and optical isomers of cocaine, as used in the
federal schedules, renders Florida’s definition of cocaine over-
broad. Moreover, Williams cannot show that the purported error
affected his substantial rights. Thus, Williams cannot establish that
the district court plainly err by sentencing him under the ACCA,
and we affirm as to this issue.
III.
We review for plain error a constitutional challenge raised
for the first time on appeal. United States v. Alfonso, 104 F.4th 815,
828 (11th Cir. 2024), cert. denied, ___ S. Ct. ___ (U.S. May 19, 2025).
“[T]here can be no plain error where there is no precedent from
the Supreme Court or [our] Court directly resolving” the issue.
United States v. Bolatete, 977 F.3d 1022, 1036 (11th Cir. 2020) (quota-
tion marks omitted).
Williams argues that 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(1) is unconstitutional
because it violates the Commerce Clause, and he also contends that
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it violates the Second Amendment. Williams’s Commerce Clause
argument is foreclosed by our precedent. We have “clearly held
that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) is constitutional under the Commerce
Clause.” United States v. Longoria, 874 F.3d 1278, 1283 (11th Cir.
2017), abrogated on other grounds by Erlinger. We have also rejected
as-applied challenges to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), holding that the gov-
ernment proves a “minimal nexus” to interstate commerce where
it demonstrates that the firearms were manufactured outside of the
state where the offense took place and, thus, necessarily traveled in
interstate commerce. United States v. Wright, 607 F.3d 708, 715-16
(11th Cir. 2010).
Williams also fails to show that §922(g)(1) plainly violates
the Second Amendment, facially or as applied to him. Recently,
our court upheld the holding in United States v. Rozier, 598 F.3d 768
(11th Cir. 2010), that §922(g)(1) is constitutional under the Second
Amendment. See United States v. Dubois, 94 F.4th 1284 (11th Cir.
2024), cert. granted and judgment vacated, ___ U. S. ___, 143 S. Ct.
1041 (Jan. 13, 2025) (No. 24-5744), reinstated by United States v. Du-
bois, 139 F.4th 887 (11th Cir. 2025). In Dubois, we held that “Rozier
continues to bind us.” 139 F.4th at 894. Because Rozier remains
our circuit precedent, Williams cannot meet his burden of showing
plain error. Thus, we affirm. See Bolatete, 977 F.3d at 1036.
Accordingly, based on the aforementioned reasons, we af-
firm Williams’s conviction and sentence for possession of a firearm
by a convicted felon.
AFFIRMED.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/11088480. Public record. Not legal advice.