## Facts

- Roosevelt D. Vallery, a federal inmate at FCI Greenville in Illinois, was escorted by federal corrections officer Ron Garver toward the lieutenant’s office.
- Garver observed Vallery acting nervous and evasive and took him to a restroom to conduct a strip search for contraband.
- During the search, Garver saw Vallery toss a small object into a toilet; when ordered to step away, Vallery pushed past Garver and tried to flush the toilet.
- Garver attempted to restrain Vallery and a physical struggle occurred, involving physical contact.
- Vallery was indicted and convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 111(a) for knowingly and forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, and interfering with a federal corrections officer performing official duties.
- The indictment did not allege, and the prosecution did not pursue, the § 111(b) enhancement for use of a deadly or dangerous weapon or infliction of bodily injury.
- At sentencing, the district court treated the offense as “simple assault” under § 111(a), a misdemeanor with a one-year maximum, and imposed a 12-month sentence.
- The United States appealed the sentence, contending the conviction qualified as a felony under § 111(a)’s “all other cases” language (up to 8 years).

## Issues

1. Whether, under 18 U.S.C. § 111(a) (as amended), Vallery’s conviction must be treated as a misdemeanor “simple assault” or may be sentenced as a felony under the “all other cases” clause.
2. Whether the government may obtain a higher statutory maximum under § 111(a) without charging and proving facts that distinguish felony conduct from “simple assault,” and without invoking § 111(b).

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s sentencing determination and the 12-month sentence.
- The court held that, on the indictment and proof in this case, Vallery’s § 111(a) conviction was for misdemeanor “simple assault,” not a felony.
- Because no weapon use or bodily injury was charged or proved, the statutory maximum applicable to Vallery’s conviction was one year.

## Legal Principles

- “Simple assault” in § 111(a) is interpreted using the common-law meaning: an attempt or threat to inflict injury that causes reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm, without aggravating features such as weapon use or bodily injury.
- When the acts violating § 111(a) “constitute only simple assault,” the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by no more than one year.
- Higher statutory maximums under § 111 (including § 111(b)’s enhanced penalties) require the government to charge and prove the aggravating facts that increase the maximum punishment; the government cannot convert a misdemeanor conviction into a felony at sentencing based on uncharged aggravation.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit held that Vallery’s conviction under § 111(a), as charged and proved without weapon or bodily-injury allegations, fell within the statute’s “simple assault” misdemeanor category, limiting punishment to one year and making the district court’s 12-month sentence lawful.


United States v. Vallery, 437 F.3d 626 (7th Cir. 2006)