Court Opinion

ID: 9406248
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-06-30 15:02:05.557415+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:28.128719
License: Public Domain

United States Court of Appeals
                            For the Eighth Circuit
                        ___________________________

                                No. 22-2856
                        ___________________________

                             United States of America

                        lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee

                                           v.

                             Shajuan Orlando Johnson

                       lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant
                                       ____________

                     Appeal from United States District Court
                 for the Northern District of Iowa - Cedar Rapids
                                  ____________

                             Submitted: April 10, 2023
                               Filed: June 30, 2023
                                  [Unpublished]
                                  ____________

Before GRUENDER, WOLLMAN, and STRAS, Circuit Judges.
                       ____________

PER CURIAM.

      Shajuan Orlando Johnson pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a prohibited
person, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 922(g)(3), 922(g)(9), and 924(a)(2).
At sentencing, the district court1 determined that Johnson’s base offense level was 24
because he had previously sustained felony convictions of a crime of violence and of
a controlled substance offense. See U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(2) (base offense level of 24
“if the defendant committed any part of the instant offense subsequent to sustaining
at least two felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance
offense”).

       Johnson argues that his 2013 conviction of possession of marijuana with intent
to deliver, in violation of Iowa Code § 124.401(1)(d), categorically does not qualify
as a controlled substance offense. The definition of “marijuana” under Iowa law in
2013 included hemp, but by the time he was sentenced for the federal firearm offense
in 2022, neither Iowa nor federal law considered hemp a controlled substance.
Johnson thus argues that his statute of conviction is overbroad and that his base
offense level should have been 20. See U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(a)(4)(A) (base offense level
of 20 “if 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”).

      In United States v. Bailey, we held that the defendant’s “prior marijuana
convictions under the hemp-inclusive version of Iowa Code § 124.401(1)(d)
categorically qualified as controlled substance offenses.” 37 F.4th 467, 470 (8th Cir.
2022) (per curiam) (quoting United States v. Jackson, No. 20-3684, 2022 WL 303231
(8th Cir. Feb. 2, 2022) (per curiam)), cert. denied, 2023 WL 3158390 (May 1, 2023).
Bailey forecloses Johnson’s argument.

      The judgment is affirmed.
                     ______________________________

      1
       The Honorable C.J. Williams, United States District Judge for the Northern
District of Iowa.

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