United States v. John Battle

── United States v. John Battle ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Date: June 08, 2026 Category: General USCA4 Appeal: 24-4350 Doc: 28 Filed: 06/08/2026 Pg: 1 of 8 UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 24-4350 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. JOHN DEVERE BATTLE, a/k/a Gotti, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (5:17-cr-00111-FL-1) Submitted: April 29, 2026 Decided: June 8, 2026 Before KING, QUATTLEBAUM, and RUSHING, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. ON BRIEF: Anne M. Hayes, Cary, North Carolina, for Appellant. Lucy Partain Brown, Assistant United States Attorney, Kristine L. Fritz, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 24-4350 Doc: 28 Filed: 06/08/2026 Pg: 2 of 8 PER CURIAM: In May 2018, a jury convicted John Devere Battle of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) (Count 1); two counts of Hobbs Act robbery and aiding and abetting the same, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 1951(a) (Counts 2 and 4); carjacking and aiding and abetting the same, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 2119(1) (Count 6); bank robbery and aiding and abetting the same, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 2113 (Count 8); four counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and aiding and abetting the same, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 924(c)(1)(A)(ii) (Counts 3, 5, 7, and 9); and two counts of possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (Counts 10 and 11). The charges arose from a crime spree committed by Battle and his five codefendants in Cary, North Carolina. At the original sentencing hearing, the district court imposed concurrent sentences of 240 months’ imprisonment for the Hobbs Act conspiracy (Count 1), the Hobbs Act robberies (Counts 2 and 4), and the bank robbery (Count 8); a concurrent sentence of 180 months’ imprisonment for the carjacking (Count 6); a concurrent sentence of 120 months’ imprisonment for one of the firearm possession offenses (Count 10); and a consecutive sentence of 52 months’ imprisonment for the other firearm possession offense (Count 11). This yielded a total sentence of 292 months’ imprisonment for Counts 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 11, which was at the bottom of Battle’s Sentencing Guidelines range. The court then imposed the statutorily mandated consecutive sentence of 84 months’ (or 7 years’) imprisonment for Battle’s first § 924(c) conviction (Count 3) and the statutorily mandated 2 USCA4 Appeal: 24-4350 Doc: 28 Filed: 06/08/2026 Pg: 3 of 8 consecutive sentences of 300 months’ (or 25 years’) imprisonment for Battle’s subsequent § 924(c) convictions (Counts 5, 7, and 9). See 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii), (C)(i) (2012). This yielded a total sentence for all counts of 1,276 months’ imprisonment. Relevant here, the district court also ordered Battle to pay restitution in the amount of $35,791 and found that he was jointly and severally liable for that amount with his codefendants to varying degrees. The court waived interest.