Opinion ID: 1189233
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: analysis

Text: We review the district court's application of the sentencing guidelines de novo. [1]
Section 2L1.2 of the Sentencing Guidelines provides for an eight-level upward adjustment if the defendant has been convicted of an aggravated felony. A commentary to the guidelines states that the term aggravated felony has the same meaning in § 2L1.2 as it has in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43). [2] Section 1101(a)(43) defines aggravated felony as illicit trafficking in a controlled substance (as defined in section 802 of Title 21), including a drug trafficking crime (as defined in section 924(c) of Title 18). [3] Section 924(c) defines drug trafficking crime as any felony punishable under the Controlled Substances Act [(`CSA')] (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). [4] Importantly to this appeal, simple possession is punishable as a felony under the CSA if the defendant commits such offense after a prior conviction ... for any drug, narcotic, or chemical offense chargeable under the law of any State. [5] In Lopez v. Gonzales, the Supreme Court held that a state offense constitutes a `felony punishable under the Controlled Substances Act' only if it proscribes conduct punishable as a felony under that federal law. [6] Therefore, we must look only to whether Cepeda-Rios's conviction would be considered an aggravated felony under federal law; whether the crime is classified as a felony or misdemeanor by the state of conviction is irrelevant. The government concedes that Cepeda-Rios's conviction for possession under § 11352, standing alone, is not an aggravated felony. The government insists, however, that the enhancement applies because Cepeda-Rios's second conviction for possession would have been a felony if prosecuted under the CSA. We agree. In United States v. Sanchez-Villalobos, a case decided pre- Lopez, we upheld the application of the eight-level enhancement under § 2L1.2(b)(1)(C) when the defendant had two prior state convictions for possession of a controlled substance. [7] We concluded that the defendant was eligible for the enhancement because his second conviction could have been punished under § 844(a) as a felony with a penalty of up to two years imprisonment. [8] Although this was an alternative holding, it is binding nonetheless. [9] As noted, Sanchez-Villalobos was decided pre- Lopez, so we must determine whether the Supreme Court's decision requires us to abandon our holding in Sanchez-Villalobos that a second conviction for simple possession qualifies as an aggravated felony under the sentencing guidelines. We conclude that we are not so compelled. The holding in Lopez makes clear that the relevant inquiry is whether the prior crime at issue qualifies as a felony under federal law. Although the Lopez Court did not address whether a second conviction for possession constitutes an aggravated felony, it did recognize the applicability of the recidivist provisions in § 844(a). Specifically, the Court stated Congress did counterintuitively define some possession offenses as illicit trafficking. Those state possession crimes that correspond to felony violations of one of the three statutes enumerated in § 924(c)(2), such as possession of cocaine base and recidivist possession, see 21 U.S.C. § 844(a), clearly fall within the definitions used by Congress in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(B) and 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(2), regardless of whether these federal possession felonies or their state counterparts constitute illicit trafficking in a controlled substance or drug trafficking as those terms are used in ordinary speech. [10] We find nothing in the Court's opinion in Lopez that overrules our holding in Sanchez-Villalobos. The analysis employed there by the Supreme Court is consistent with our earlier hypothetical approach in Sanchez-Villalobos, viz., a state crime is to be deemed a felony if it would have been prosecuted as such under federal law. Cepeda-Rios does not challenge the validity or finality of his prior state convictions. [11] Under the CSA, if his second possession offense had been prosecuted under federal law, it would have been punishable as a felony. [I]t would not, as he contends, only have been punishable as a misdemeanor. [12] This is why Cepeda-Rios's second state conviction for possession must be treated as an aggravated felony for purposes of his sentence.