Opinion ID: 195585
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Conspiracies As Covered Offenses

Text: 25 Appellant challenges the district court's ruling that his conspiracy conviction qualifies as a controlled substance offense. 3 Because this challenge hinges on the legal effect of the conviction, our review is plenary. See Fiore, 983 F.2d at 2; see also United States v. St. Cyr, 977 F.2d 698, 701 (1st Cir.1992) (holding that a de novo standard of review governs interpretive questions under the sentencing guidelines). 26 Appellant launches this offensive by remarking the obvious: conspiracy convictions are not mentioned in the body of either the relevant guidelines, U.S.S.G. Secs. 4B1.1-4B1.2, or the enabling legislation, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 994(h). 4 He acknowledges that Application Note 1, quoted supra Part III(A), purports to include certain conspiracies as triggering and/or predicate offenses, but limns two reasons why sentencing courts must boycott this conclusion. First, he asserts that the Sentencing Commission's commentary is inconsistent with the guideline itself and should, therefore, be disregarded. Second, he asserts that if, by reason of the commentary or otherwise, the guideline is construed to encompass conspiracies (particularly drug-trafficking conspiracies), its promulgation exceeds the Sentencing Commission's statutory authority. Neither assertion carries the day. 27 1. Consistency with the Guideline. With respect to the Sentencing Commission, the Court's instructions could scarcely be more explicit: 28 Commentary which functions to interpret [a] guideline or explain how it is to be applied, controls, and if failure to follow, or a misreading of, such commentary results in a sentence select[ed] ... from the wrong guideline range, that sentence would constitute an incorrect application of the sentencing guidelines.... 29 Stinson v. United States, --- U.S. ----, ---- - ----, 113 S.Ct. 1913, 1917-18, 123 L.Ed.2d 598 (1993) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). To be sure, commentary, though important, must not be confused with gospel. Commentary is not binding in all instances. See Stinson, --- U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 1918. In particular, commentary carries no weight when the Commission's suggested interpretation of a guideline is arbitrary, unreasonable, inconsistent with the guideline's text, or contrary to law. Fiore, 983 F.2d at 2. 30 An application note and a guideline are inconsistent only when following one will result in violating the dictates of the other. Stinson, --- U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 1918. That is not the situation here. Because the application note with which we are concerned neither excludes any offenses expressly enumerated in the guideline, nor calls for the inclusion of any offenses that the guideline expressly excludes, there is no inconsistency. 31 By like token, the application note, when measured against the text of the career offender guideline, does not appear arbitrary or unreasonable. In real-world terms, drug-trafficking conspiracies cannot easily be separated from the mine-run of serious narcotics offenses and, therefore, the Sentencing Commission's inclusion of conspiracy convictions is most accurately viewed as interstitial. It is a logical step both from a lay person's coign of vantage and from the standpoint of the Commission's (and Congress's) oft-demonstrated preoccupation with punishing drug traffickers sternly. It in no way detracts from the dictates of the guideline itself. In short, the application note comports sufficiently with the letter, spirit, and aim of the guideline to bring it within the broad sphere of the Sentencing Commission's interpretive discretion. Cf., e.g., id. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 1919 (holding that an agency's interpretation of its own regulations must be given controlling weight if it does not violate the Constitution or a federal statute); Robertson v. Methow Valley Citizens Council, 490 U.S. 332, 359, 109 S.Ct. 1835, 1850-51, 104 L.Ed.2d 351 (1989) (similar). 32 2. Consistency with Section 994(h). As we observed at the outset, the question of whether Application Note 1 contravenes 28 U.S.C. Sec. 994(h) has divided the courts of appeals. Three circuits hold that Application Note 1 conflicts with the statute. See United States v. Mendoza-Figueroa, 28 F.3d 766 (8th Cir.1994); United States v. Bellazerius, 24 F.3d 698, 702 (5th Cir.1994); United States v. Price, 990 F.2d 1367, 1369 (D.C.Cir.1993). These courts stress that a conspiracy to commit a crime involves quite different elements from whatever substantive crime the defendants conspire to commit and thus, cannot be said to be one of the offenses described in the statutes that section 994(h) enumerates. Price, 990 F.2d at 1369. Accordingly, these courts hold that the Commission's attempt to introduce crimes not expressly mentioned in section 994(h) into the career offender calculus is contrary to law. See, e.g., id. In a related vein, these courts also hold that since the Commission stated in a background comment that it drafted U.S.S.G. Sec. 4B1.1 to implement the mandate of section 994(h), and did not provide any other legal authority in support of its enactment, the inclusion of conspiracies in the career offender guideline cannot be regarded as an exercise of the Commission's discretionary powers under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 994(a). See, e.g., Bellazerius, 24 F.3d at 702. 33 Several other circuits have adopted a diametrically opposite view. These courts hold that [s]ection 994(h) provides the minimum obligation of the Commission and does not prohibit the inclusion of additional offenses that qualify for such treatment. United States v. Damerville, 27 F.3d 254, 257 (7th Cir.1994); accord United States v. Hightower, 25 F.3d 182, 187 (3d Cir.1994); United States v. Allen, 24 F.3d 1180, 1187 (10th Cir.1994); United States v. Heim, 15 F.3d 830, 832 (9th Cir.1994); cf. United States v. Beasley, 12 F.3d 280, 283 (1st Cir.1993). Rather than viewing section 994(h) as a ceiling, limiting the Sentencing Commission's power, these courts, constituting a majority of the circuits that have spoken to the issue, see the statute as a floor, describing the irreducible minimum that the Commission must do by way of a career offender guideline, but without in any way inhibiting the Commission, in the exercise of its lawfully delegated powers, from including additional offenses within the career offender rubric. See, e.g., Damerville, 27 F.3d at 257. 34 We find the majority view more persuasive. In this regard, we think it is significant that this view is more compatible with discernible congressional intent. The legislative history makes plain that section 994(h) is not necessarily intended to be an exhaustive list of types of cases in which the guidelines should specify a substantial term of imprisonment, nor of types of cases in which terms at or close to authorized maxima should be specified. S.Rep. No. 98-225, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. 176 (1983), reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3182, 3359. 5 35 To cinch matters, we believe that Fiore--a case in which we held that a conviction for a conspiracy to commit a crime of violence must be treated for career offender purposes the same as a conviction for the crime of violence itself, 983 F.2d at 3--aligns us doctrinally with the majority view. And because we continue to believe that Fiore was correctly decided, we do not resist its pull. 36 3. Validity of the Definitions. Having concluded that 28 U.S.C. Sec. 994(h) neither comprises a ceiling nor an exclusive compendium of the crimes that are eligible to serve as triggering or predicate offenses, we must next determine whether the Commission has lawful power to write the definition of crime of violence and controlled substance offense to include certain conspiracy convictions. We believe the Commission's definitions are both valid and applicable to Piper's case. 37 On this issue, our work is largely behind us, for we have addressed the question on a number of previous occasions. In determining what crimes constitute covered offenses, we use the formal categorical approach introduced by the Supreme Court in Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990). See Fiore, 983 F.2d at 3; accord United States v. Dyer, 9 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir.1993) (per curiam). Under such an approach, we look to the statutory definition of the offense in question, as opposed to the particular facts underlying the conviction. See Fiore, 983 F.2d at 3; see also United States v. Winter, 22 F.3d 15, 18 (1st Cir.1994). 38 To determine the status of a conspiracy conviction vis-a-vis the career offender rubric, the key question is conspiracy to do what? Fiore, 983 F.2d at 3. If the object of the conspiracy is to commit a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense, as those terms are defined for purposes of U.S.S.G. Sec. 4B1.1, then the career offender provision is applicable. Here, answering the question brings the offense of conviction within the ambit of the career offender guideline, as appellant acknowledges that he pleaded guilty to a charge that he participated in a drug-trafficking conspiracy. 39 Appellant tries mightily to avoid this conclusion. He claims that Fiore should not be given suzerainty here. In this connection, appellant makes two points: (1) Fiore involved a conspiracy to commit a crime of violence, rather than a conspiracy to commit a controlled substance offense; and (2) Fiore involved a predicate offense rather than a triggering offense. To be sure, these distinctions exist--but they are distinctions that make no legally relevant difference. 40 Appellant's first point simply will not wash. The rationale on which the Taylor Court relied in choosing a formal categorical approach is equally applicable to controlled substance offenses. For one thing, the approach mirrors Congress's approach. See Taylor, 495 U.S. at 575, 110 S.Ct. at 2143. For another thing, the same practical difficulties that militate against the use of a fact-specific analytic method are present in both situations. Cf. Beasley, 12 F.3d at 284 (explaining that to distinguish controlled substance predicate offenses based on the jurisdiction of conviction would produce a crazy quilt of punishment results). 41 We need not dwell on appellant's second point. As we already have noted, see supra note 3, an identical analysis applies whether the offense in question is a triggering or predicate offense. Consequently, the same result must obtain. Fiore controls. 42 4. Rulemaking. Appellant mounts one last challenge to the inclusion of conspiracy convictions in the career offender calculus. This challenge derives from the notion that the promulgation of Application Note 1 constituted improper rulemaking in violation of 28 U.S.C. Sec. 994(x). We reject this initiative. A fair reading of the statute indicates that it requires no more than that the promulgation of the guidelines themselves shall be subject to the rulemaking procedures detailed in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). See 28 U.S.C. Sec. 994(x) (stating that the relevant APA provisions, such as 5 U.S.C. Sec. 553, relating to the publication in the Federal Register and public hearing procedure, shall apply to the promulgation of Guidelines pursuant to this section) (emphasis supplied). 43 In any event, Application Note 1 is nothing more than an interpretive aid. As such, it is akin to an agency's interpretation of its own legislative rules. Stinson, --- U.S. at ----, 113 S.Ct. at 1919. It is not necessary that such interpretations be promulgated in accordance with the formal requirements of the APA. See 5 U.S.C. Sec. 553 (excluding from rulemaking procedures interpretative rules, general statements of policy, or rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice). 44