Court Opinion

ID: 9918367
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-12 19:00:30.132916+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:02:42.880575
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-10702        Document: 00517031542             Page: 1      Date Filed: 01/12/2024

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                     ____________
                                                                               United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                        Fifth Circuit
                                      No. 23-10702
                                    Summary Calendar                                  FILED
                                    ____________                               January 12, 2024
                                                                                 Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                          Clerk

                                                                      Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Jerome Thomas Watkins,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                         for the Northern District of Texas
                              USDC No. 4:21-CR-180-1
                     ______________________________

   Before Willett, Duncan, and Ramirez, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Jerome Thomas Watkins was convicted following a jury trial of
   conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of a
   mixture or substance containing cocaine, 400 grams or more of a mixture or
   substance containing fentanyl, 500 grams or more of mixture or substance
   containing methamphetamine, and one kilogram or more of a mixture or

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-10702      Document: 00517031542            Page: 2    Date Filed: 01/12/2024

                                      No. 23-10702

   substance containing heroin; possession with intent to distribute 400 grams
   or more of a mixture or substance containing fentanyl; and being a felon in
   possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to 360 months of imprisonment
   and 10 years of supervised release. Watkins argues that the district court
   plainly erred by allowing the jury to determine incarceration-related facts
   regarding his prior drug-trafficking convictions, which were used to enhance
   his statutory minimum sentence under 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(A) and 851.
          Watkins’s contention regarding the procedure utilized by the district
   court to determine the incarceration-related facts required for the
   § 841(b)(1)(A) sentence enhancement is unsettled in this circuit, and other
   federal courts have reached divergent conclusions. Thus, we reject his
   argument that the district court committed clear or obvious error. See Puckett
   v. United States, 556 U.S. 129, 135 (2009); United States v. McGavitt, 28 F.4th
   571, 577 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 143 S. Ct. 282 (2022). In any event, Watkins
   cannot satisfy the substantial rights prong of plain error review given that
   evidence of his prior drug-trafficking convictions would have been
   introduced at trial to prove the felon in possession of a firearm charge and
   that there was overwhelming evidence of his guilt. See Puckett, 556 U.S. at
   135; United States v. Hawley, 516 F.3d 264, 268 (5th Cir. 2008).
          Watkins also contends that the district court plainly erred in treating
   him as a career offender because his prior conviction for conspiracy to
   distribute controlled substances is not a “controlled substance offense”
   within the meaning of U.S.S.G. §§ 4B1.1 and 4B1.2, as the definition of such
   offenses does not include inchoate crimes like conspiracies.               As he
   acknowledges, Watkins’s argument is foreclosed by our decision in United
   States v. Vargas, 74 F.4th 673, 698 (5th Cir. 2023), petition for cert. filed (U.S.
   Oct. 23, 2023) (No. 23-5875), which held that that “inchoate offenses like
   conspiracy are included in the definition of ‘controlled substance offense.’”

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Case: 23-10702   Document: 00517031542        Page: 3   Date Filed: 01/12/2024

                               No. 23-10702

         The district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED.

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