Opinion ID: 2982272
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: prosecution and sentencing

Text: While Defendant was in state custody, he was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on three counts: possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, also in violation of § 841(a)(1); and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924. Defendant pleaded guilty to all three counts. In completing the presentence investigation report for Defendant, the probation office designated him a career offender pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1. To qualify for this enhancement, a defendant must have been convicted of two prior felonies that are crimes of violence or controlled substance offenses, among other things. Defendant has an extensive criminal history, but the probation office specified only two prior Tennessee convictions as controlled substance offenses. One of these convictions—from October 2001—was described in the PSR as “Possession of Less Than 0.5 Grams of Cocaine for Resale.” This description does not track to the language of any Tennessee criminal statute and the PSR did not specify which statute -3- No. 13-6000 Defendant had violated. Nonetheless, applying the career offender Guideline (and after other adjustments), the probation office calculated Defendant’s advisory Guidelines sentencing range as 151–188 months. Defendant asked the district court to vary downward based on his purported substantial assistance to the Nashville police. To support this argument, Defendant called Demonbreun and Goodwin to testify at his sentencing hearing. Defendant also requested a departure and a variance on the basis that his criminal history did not fall in the heartland of the career offender Guideline. Defendant further requested that the district court make his federal sentence run concurrently to the lengthy state sentence Defendant was already serving arising out of the search of his girlfriend’s house in November 2009. At sentencing, the district court acknowledged Defendant’s various arguments, but ultimately determined that a within-Guidelines sentence was appropriate. The court believed that Defendant’s extensive criminal history made him a true career offender, not just one in name only. The court also found that the crimes of conviction, which involved drugs and guns, were serious and dangerous. Even though the court recognized it had the authority to vary or depart from the Guidelines, the court did not think it appropriate under the facts of this case. The court imposed a sentence of 151 months, which will begin on the earlier of September 8, 2017 (when Defendant is eligible for parole in his state sentence) or when he is released from state custody. After the district court posed the Bostic question and Defendant did not object, the sentencing proceeding adjourned. This appeal timely followed. -4- No. 13-6000