[DO NOT PUBLISH]

In the

United States Court of Appeals

For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 23-13225

Non-Argument Calendar

____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

MONFORT DESIR, 

Defendant-Appellant.

____________________

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Florida

D.C. Docket No. 9:23-cr-80050-AMC-1

____________________

USCA11 Case: 23-13225 Document: 35-1 Date Filed: 06/17/2024 Page: 1 of 4
2 Opinion of the Court 23-13225

Before JILL PRYOR, BRANCH, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Monfort Desir appeals his 151-month sentence for five 

counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl on the 

grounds that the district court erroneously designated him a career 

offender under the Sentencing Guidelines based on two prior Florida convictions for distribution of cocaine. He argues that the district court erroneously designated him a career offender because 

his 2008 and 2013 Florida cocaine convictions were not “controlled 

substance offenses” under the career offender guideline.

We review de novo whether a prior conviction is a “controlled substance offense” under the Guidelines. United States v. 

Lange, 862 F.3d 1290, 1293 (11th Cir. 2017).

The Sentencing Guidelines provide that a defendant is a career offender if:

(1) the defendant was at least [18] years old at the time 

the defendant committed the instant offense of conviction; (2) the instant offense of conviction is a felony 

that is either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense; and (3) the defendant has at least [2] 

prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence 

or a controlled substance offense.

U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(a). A controlled substance offense is:

USCA11 Case: 23-13225 Document: 35-1 Date Filed: 06/17/2024 Page: 2 of 4
23-13225 Opinion of the Court 3

an offense under federal or state law, punishable by 

imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, that 

prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled substance (or a 

counterfeit substance) or the possession of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit substance) with intent to manufacture, import, export, distribute, or 

dispense.

Id. § 4B1.2(b). A career offender status mandates a criminal history 

category of VI and warrants a set offense level based on the statutory maximum of the underlying offense. Id. § 4B1.1(b).

In United States v. Dubois, we recently held “that a ‘controlled 

substance’ under § 4B1.2(b)’s definition of ‘controlled substance offense’ is, for prior state offenses, a drug regulated by state law at 

the time of the conviction.” 94 F.4th 1284, 1300 (11th Cir. 2024).

Here, the district court did not err in finding that Desir’s two 

prior Florida cocaine convictions were “controlled substance offenses” under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(b) and consequently designating 

him as a career offender, because, as we confirmed in Dubois, sentencing courts must look to state law at the time of the prior state 

conviction rather than at the time of federal sentencing to determine whether a drug is a controlled substance. Dubois, 94 F.4th at 

1298, 1300. The district court correctly looked to the Florida drug 

schedules at the time of Desir’s 2008 and 2013 state convictions for 

cocaine, determined that those convictions were “controlled 

USCA11 Case: 23-13225 Document: 35-1 Date Filed: 06/17/2024 Page: 3 of 4
4 Opinion of the Court 23-13225

substance offenses,” and applied the career offender enhancement. 

We therefore affirm.

AFFIRMED.

USCA11 Case: 23-13225 Document: 35-1 Date Filed: 06/17/2024 Page: 4 of 4