Opinion ID: 1363132
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Recidivism Challenge

Text: Fink also argues that the district court erred when it treated the 2002 conviction as a prior felony drug offense for the purposes of imposing a ß 841(b)(1)(B) sentence enhancement against him. According to Fink, the cocaine possession that gave rise to that conviction was conduct in furtherance of, and therefore indistinct from, the cocaine distribution conspiracy that is presently at issue. Fink claims that enhancing his sentence for the conspiracy under ß 841(b)(1)(B) therefore ignores the statute's aim of curbing criminal recidivism. According to Fink, he is not a recidivist. Fink contends that his 2002 cocaine possession and 2005 conspiracy conviction are both part and parcel of one epic crime that he has remained unwaveringly dedicated to over the course of many years. We apply a clear error standard to the factual determinations of the district court. Gonzalez-Velez, 466 F.3d at 40. Fink's claim that the offense underlying his 2002 conviction was in furtherance of conduct that later also gave rise to his ß 846 violation is an argument that this court has heard, and rejected, on similar facts before. In United States v. Martinez-Medina, a defendant convicted of a drug conspiracy charge appealed the district court's enhancement of the sentence by reference to ß 841(b)(1)(B) and two prior felony drug convictions on the defendant's record. 279 F.3d 105 (1st Cir.2002). We repudiated the defendant's argument that the two prior felony drug offenses could not serve to enhance the sentence because they were part and parcel of the drug conspiracy, observing that the prior felony drug offenses had occurred over the course of several months and involved different drugs. Id. at 123; see also United States v. De Jesus Mateo, 373 F.3d 70 (1st Cir.2004) (observing that the defendant's prior convictions were for separate drug transactions occurring several months apart and quoting Martinez-Medina to deny defendant's challenge to the sentence enhancement he received under 21 U.S.C. ß 841(b)(1)(A)). In the instant case, Fink's 2002 cocaine possession conviction also occurred prior to, and involved different drugs from, the numerous offenses underlying the ß 846 conspiracy conviction, and we therefore conclude that the two convictions are separate and distinct episodes under Martinez-Medina. The district court therefore did not err in ruling that the 2002 conviction is a prior felony drug offense for the purposes of enhancing Fink's sentence under ß 841(b)(1)(B).