Opinion ID: 4445950
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Predicate felony drug oﬀenses

Text: Section 841(b)(1)(A), the applicable penalty provision for Chapman’s and Rush’s federal convictions, provided at that time for a ten‐year mandatory minimum sentence that in‐ creased to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of twenty years if the defendant was convicted “after a prior Nos. 18‐2009, et al. 15 conviction for a felony drug oﬀense.” 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) (2018). The term “felony drug oﬀense” is defined in 21 U.S.C. § 802(44) to mean: an oﬀense that is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year under any law of the United States or of a State or foreign country that prohibits or restricts conduct relating to narcotic drugs, marihuana, anabolic steroids, or depressant or stimulant substances. See Burgess v. United States, 553 U.S. 124, 126 (2008) (“The term ‘felony drug oﬀense’ contained in § 841(b)(1)(A)[] … is de‐ fined exclusively by § 802(44) ….”). Each of the four catego‐ ries of covered drugs is also defined in § 802. See 21 U.S.C. § 802(17) (defining “narcotic drugs”); id. § 802(16) (defining “marihuana”); id. § 802(41)(A) (defining “anabolic steroid”); id. § 802(9) (defining “depressant or stimulant substance”). The government filed an information identifying the prior convictions pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 851(a). We must, then, determine whether Chapman’s or Rush’s prior convictions under state law meet the federal definition of “felony drug oﬀense.” To do so, we apply the categorical approach, which requires us to compare the elements of the state statute of conviction to the elements of the federal recid‐ ivism statute. United States v. Elder, 900 F.3d 491, 501 (7th Cir. 2018). If, and only if, the elements of the state law mirror or are narrower than the federal statute can the prior conviction qualify as a predicate felony drug oﬀense. Id. Importantly, un‐ der the categorical approach, it is only the elements that mat‐ ter, not the defendant’s underlying conduct. 16 Nos. 18‐2009, et al.