Opinion ID: 797178
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Guidelines-Recommended Calculation of Green's Sentence

Text: 5 A presentence report (PSR) was prepared, calculating Green's recommended sentence pursuant to the advisory Sentencing Guidelines (Guidelines). The PSR calculation started with a base offense level of 20, pursuant to the Guidelines provision that a defendant's base offense level should be 20, if — (A) the defendant committed any part of the instant offense subsequent to sustaining one felony conviction of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense. Guidelines § 2K2.1(a)(4)(A). Section 2K2.1 adopts the definition of controlled substance offense that is used in Guidelines § 4B1.2(b) and Application Note 1 to that section. See Guidelines § 2K2.1 Application Note 1. Section 4B1.2(b), to the extent pertinent here, provides the following definition: 6 The term controlled substance offense means an offense under federal or state law, punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, that prohibits the . . . possession of a controlled substance . . . with intent to . . . distribute . . . . 7 Guidelines § 4B1.2(b) (emphasis added). And Application Note 1 to this section provides that for purposes of this section, ` controlled substance offense[s]' include the offenses of aiding and abetting, conspiring, and attempting to commit such offenses.  Id. Application Note 1 (emphases added). 8 Green objected to the PSR's classification of his 1996 conviction as a controlled substance offense within the meaning of § 2K2.1 (a)(4)(A), contending that nothing in the record supported the conclusion that his offense had involved an intent to sell or otherwise distribute. He pointed out that although some subsections of New York Penal Law § 220.16 prohibit possession of controlled substances with intent to sell, other subsections prohibit simple possession without regard to any such intent. He argued that there was no proof that he had been convicted of anything other than simple possession. Absent an intent to distribute, Green argued, his 1996 conviction did not fall within the definition of controlled substance offense applicable to § 2K2.1 (a)(4)(A), which sets the base offense level at 20, and that that conviction instead fell within § 2K2.1(a)(6), which sets the base offense level at 14. 9