Court Opinion

ID: 9496066
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:17:21.828694+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:57:21.197879
License: Public Domain

PAEZ, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I agree with the conclusion that Shu-mate’s Oregon conviction was a predicate offense for career offender purposes. I also agree that after our decision in United States v. Cox, 74 F.3d 189 (9th Cir.1996), USSG § 4B1.2 “allows inclusion of solicitation for controlled substance offenses.” Slip Op. at-. I do not understand Cox or our holding today to mean, however, that solicitation of another to commit a controlled substance offense will always automatically qualify as a predicate offense under USSG § 4B1.1, without regard to the statute of conviction. As the Sentencing Guidelines direct, the ultimate focus of inquiry must be on “the offense of conviction (i.e., the conduct of which the defendant was convicted)” and whether it describes an offense involving conduct which meets the Guidelines’ definition of a controlled substance offense. See USSG § 4B1.2, comment, (n.2). Assuming for purposes of the categorical analysis that Shumate’s Oregon conviction was for solicitation of delivery of marijuana, I believe that his conviction satisfies this test.
As noted in the opinion, under Oregon Revised Statute (“ORS”) § 475.992(1), solicitation of delivery of marijuana involves a request “to provide to the person a controlled substance for the purpose of distribution to third parties.” State v. Sargent, 110 Or.App. 194, 197, 822 P.2d 726 (1991). Because the Sentencing Guidelines define a controlled substance offense as one which “prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution or dispensing of a controlled substance or possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture, import, export, distribute or dispense,” USSG § 4B1.2(b), and because “the conduct of which [Shumate] was convicted” involved an intent to distribute, his conviction qualifies as a controlled substance offense under § 4B1.1(a). With that understanding, I concur in Judge Fernandez’s opinion.