Opinion ID: 721464
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Number of prior felony convictions

Text: 81 Second, Brown argues that he should not have received a mandatory life sentence under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(iii). That section provides that if a defendant is convicted of an offense involving 50 grams or more of cocaine base and committed after two or more prior convictions for a felony drug offense have become final, such person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment without release.... 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(iii). Brown had two prior felony convictions resulting from two sales of cocaine to an undercover agent on July 13, 1987 and July 15, 1987. These actions formed the basis for two separate counts of a single indictment. The counts were tried together, Brown was convicted of both, and the court imposed concurrent sentences. Brown argues that the two prior convictions arose from a single act of criminality, and he urges this court to construe them as a single conviction for purposes of sentencing under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(iii). 82 Brown argues that our decision in United States v. Blackwood, 913 F.2d 139 (4th Cir.1990), supports his position. In Blackwood, the defendant had two previous convictions for possession of large quantities of marijuana. The first conviction involved marijuana found in a pickup truck that the defendant was driving when arrested. The second conviction concerned marijuana found in the defendant's motel room less than two hours later. We held that the two convictions arose from a single act of criminality--the possession with intent to sell marijuana within a limited geographical area and period of time--and should therefore have been treated as one prior conviction for purposes of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b). Id. at 145. We recognized that, for purposes of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b) and other similar sentencing enhancement statutes, the term prior convictions refers to separate criminal episodes, not separate convictions arising out of a single transaction. Id. at 145-46. Relying on Blackwood, Brown contends that his two prior convictions for distribution of cocaine arose from a single act of criminality, and that his prior convictions should be treated as a single prior conviction. 83 We disagree. Brown was previously convicted of distribution, not possession. An instance of possession is somewhat amorphous: a single act of possession may occur over a period of time and in a range of locales. An act of distribution, however, occurs at a distinct time and place. We have held that separate acts of distribution that occur on different days or even at different times on the same day constitute separate criminal episodes. See United States v. Letterlough, 63 F.3d 332, 334-37 (4th Cir.) (two convictions for two acts of distribution of a single dose of crack cocaine occurring less than two hours apart on the same evening constituted two prior convictions for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), a similar mandatory minimum sentencing statute), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 406, 133 L.Ed.2d 324 (1995); United States v. Samuels, 970 F.2d 1312, 1315 (4th Cir.1992) (convictions for two acts of distribution occurring on consecutive days counted as two separate prior convictions for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 924(e), even though the two convictions had been consolidated for disposition and resulted in concurrent sentences). We therefore conclude that Brown's prior convictions resulted from two separate episodes of criminality and that they constituted two separate convictions for sentencing purposes under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A). 84