United States v. Malachi Glass
Opinion
Appellant Malachi Glass appeals his criminal sentence, in particular the District Court's application of a career-offender enhancement under the United States Sentencing Guidelines ("U.S.S.G.") § 4B1.1. We will affirm.
I.
Glass pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride in violation of
Glass filed a timely notice of appeal, challenging the career-offender enhancement. We appointed appellate counsel. In July 2017, this Court denied appointed counsel's motion to withdraw under
Anders v. California
,
II.
The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to
The parties dispute which standard of review should govern our analysis. Glass argues he preserved his challenge to the career-offender enhancement, which would trigger de novo review. Alternatively, he claims he did not waive his challenge and, at the very least, plain error review should apply. On the other hand, the government contends that Glass either waived or forfeited his challenge, permitting us to disregard his argument or review it for plain error, respectively.
While it is true that Glass made several arguments regarding his criminal history to the District Court, Glass failed to challenge the inclusion of his convictions as predicate offenses for career-offender purposes prior to appeal. Even Glass's first appellate counsel acknowledged that trial counsel had conceded the issue and thus, plain error review should apply. In light of Glass's trial counsel's repeated concessions that Glass was a career offender, we think it appropriate to review the imposition of the career-offender enhancement for plain error.
See
United States v. Dahl
,
"To demonstrate 'plain error' an appellant bears the burden of proving that: (1) the court erred; (2) the error was 'plain' at the time of appellate consideration; and (3) the error affected substantial rights, usually meaning that the error 'must have affected the outcome of the district court proceedings.' "
Gov't of the Virgin Islands v. Rosa
,
III.
As relevant here, a defendant qualifies for a career-offender enhancement under the Guidelines if he or she "has at least two prior felony convictions of ... a controlled substance offense." U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(a). A "controlled substance offense" is an offense that (1) is punishable by a term of imprisonment that exceeds one year and (2) "prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit substance) or the possession of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit substance) with intent to manufacture, import, export, distribute, or dispense."
Glass's career-offender enhancement was based on two convictions under
Assuming a state statute that criminalizes a mere offer to sell sweeps beyond U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2, we are not convinced the statute at issue here-§ 780-113(a)(30)-crosses that line. Section 780-113(a)(30) prohibits "the manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, a controlled substance ... or knowingly creating, delivering or possessing with intent to deliver, a counterfeit controlled substance." It does not mention offers to sell drugs.
Glass argues, however, that a mere offer to sell drugs is impliedly included in § 780-113(a)(30) because Pennsylvania law goes on to define "deliver" as "the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer from one person to another of a controlled substance ...."
First, Glass omits that the federal counterpart to this statute, the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), also defines the "delivery" of a controlled substance to mean "the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer of a controlled substance,"
Second, we note that at least one other provision contained in § 780-113 expressly prohibits offers.
See
Third, the parties have failed to uncover any authority, such as state judicial decisions or pattern jury instructions, suggesting Pennsylvania would prosecute a mere offer to sell under § 780-113(a)(30).
See
Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez
,
And fourth, contrary to Glass's argument, we are not convinced Pennsylvania's definition of "deliver" is sufficiently similar to the Texas definition at issue in
Hinkle
and
Conley
such that a similar outcome is warranted. Under the Texas Health and Safety Code, "deliver" means: "to transfer, actually or constructively, to another a controlled substance, counterfeit substance, or drug paraphernalia, regardless of whether there is an agency relationship.
The term includes offering to sell a controlled substance
, counterfeit substance, or drug paraphernalia."
We note that this conclusion is consistent with our prior holdings regarding § 730-113(a)(30) outside the U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 context. We have already held that conviction under § 780-113(a)(30) for cocaine-based offenses is not overbroad in the context of the ACCA's definition of "serious drug offense."
See
United States v. Abbott
,
In sum, because § 780-113(a)(30) does not sweep more broadly than § 4B1.2, it is a "controlled substance offense" and may serve as a predicate offense to a career-offender enhancement under § 4B1.1. Because the record shows that Glass possessed two such predicate offenses-(1) a 2001 conviction, CP-22-CR-2630-2001, for manufacturing, delivering, or possessing marijuana in Dauphin County; and (2) a 2004 conviction, CP-31-CR-461-2004, for manufacturing, delivering, or possessing cocaine in Huntingdon County-we find no error in the District Court's decision to apply the enhancement. 4
IV.
For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm the District Court's judgment entered on June 13, 2016.
Under
Anders
, "if counsel finds his [client's] case to be wholly frivolous, after a conscientious examination of it, he should so advise the court and request permission to withdraw."
The parties agree that, with some exceptions not relevant here, cases concerning overbreadth of a state criminal statute in the context of the ACCA also apply to the career-offender context.
In pointing out this flaw in the logic of Glass's argument, we are not suggesting that "attempted transfer" in
We recognize that the District Court based the enhancement on convictions CP-22-CR-2630-2001 and CP-31-CR-460-2004. Glass also argues that the latter conviction is not a "controlled substance offense" because it was for simple possession. We need not consider this argument because the record shows Glass possessed a third § 780-113(a)(30) conviction, CP-31-CR-461-2004, which qualifies as a predicate offense under today's decision.
See
United States v. Blair
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America v. Malachi M. GLASS, Appellant
- Cited By
- 51 cases
- Status
- Unpublished