A South Florida robbery conviction under state law qualifies as a violent felony warranting longer sentences under the federal career criminal law, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The 5-4 decision in Stokeling v. United States affirmed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which ruled Denard Stokeling’s robbery conviction met the requirements for a mandatory minimum 15-year sentence under the federal Armed Career Criminal Act. The act imposes the mandatory sentence on a defendant who has three previous convictions for a “violent felony.”