[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

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No. 14-12664

Non-Argument Calendar

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D.C. Docket No. 1:14-cr-20014-WJZ-6

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff-Appellee,

 versus

GREGORY ALLEN BLUE, 

a.k.a. Blue,

 Defendant-Appellant.

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Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Florida

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(June 30, 2015)

Before HULL, ROSENBAUM, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 

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Gregory Allen Blue appeals his sentence of 102 months’ imprisonment, 

imposed below the advisory guidelines range, after pleading guilty to one count of 

possessing with intent to distribute heroin and crack cocaine, in violation of 21 

U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). On appeal, Blue argues that he was improperly sentenced as a 

career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(a) because his two prior convictions under 

section 893.13(1) of the Florida Statutes were not “controlled substance offenses” 

within the meaning of the career offender provision. Blue argues that a prior 

conviction can only be a “controlled substance offense” if it is “substantially 

similar” to the federal drug trafficking definition. Unlike federal law, his 

convictions under section 893.13(1) did not have a mens rea element, so they could 

not be “controlled substance offenses.”

We review de novo the district court’s decision to classify a defendant as a 

career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1. United States v. Gibson, 434 F.3d 1234, 

1243 (11th Cir. 2006). A prior panel’s holding is binding on all subsequent panels 

unless and until it is overruled or undermined to the point of abrogation by the 

Supreme Court or by this Court sitting en banc. United States v. Archer, 531 F.3d 

1347, 1352 (11th Cir. 2008). 

A defendant is a career offender if, among other things, he has at least two 

prior felony convictions for a controlled substance offense. U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(a). 

A “controlled substance offense”

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means 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). 

Florida law punishes the sale, manufacture, delivery, or possession with 

intent to sell, manufacture, or deliver, of cocaine as a second-degree felony. See 

Fla. Stat. § 893.13(1)(a)(1). Doing the same within 1000 feet of a school is a firstdegree felony, and doing the same with marijuana within 1000 feet of a school is a 

second-degree felony. See id. § 893.13(1)(c)(1)–(2). First-degree felonies are 

punishable by up to 30 years’ imprisonment, id. § 775.082(3)(b)(1); second-degree 

felonies are punishable by up to 15 years’ imprisonment, id. § 775.082(3)(d). 

We have previously determined that a conviction under section 893.13(1) is 

a “controlled substance offense” under § 4B1.2(b) in United States v. Smith, 775 

F.3d 1262, 1267–68 (2014). 

As Blue recognizes, his arguments are foreclosed by Smith. Here, Blue was 

properly sentenced as a career offender because his prior marijuana and cocaine 

convictions were offenses under state law, punishable by a term of imprisonment 

exceeding one year, and concerned the distribution or dispensing, or possession 

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with intent to distribute or dispense, of a controlled substance. See Smith, 775 F.3d 

at 1267–68; see also U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(b). We affirm.

AFFIRMED.

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