United States v. Judge

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States v. Judge, 91 F. App'x 893 (4th Cir. 2004)

United States v. Judge

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Carl Judge pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine and fifty or more grams of cocaine base (crack), 21 U.S.C. § 846 (2000), and was sentenced as a career offender to a term of 262 months imprisonment. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 4B1.1 (2002). Judge contends on appeal that the district court plainly erred in sentencing him as a career offender. We affirm.

Judge maintains that his three prior felony drug convictions were related cases because they were part of a single common scheme or plan, see USSG § 4A1.2, comment. (n.3), and should have been counted as one prior conviction. Thus, in his view, he lacked the two predicate convictions necessary to qualify him for a career offender sentence. Judge overlooks the fact that his prior offenses were separated by intervening arrests. Id. Consequently, the district court did not plainly err in counting each offense separately in Judge’s criminal history or in sentencing him as a career offender.

We therefore affirm the sentence imposed by the district court. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

Reference

Full Case Name
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff—Appellee, v. Carl Terrell JUDGE, Defendant—Appellant
Status
Unpublished