United States v. Coleman, No. 10-6134 (10th Cir. 2011)
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Defendant Marcus Coleman was convicted of selling crack cocaine and marijuana on three separate occasions in 2002, in violation of Oklahoma’s Trafficking in Illegal Drugs Act. Because he was between the ages of 16 and 17 when he committed these crimes, the state court adjudicated him under Oklahoma’s Youthful Offender Act. Coleman received a sentence of 10 years’ confinement for each conviction, the maximum sentence permitted. Coleman escaped from OJA custody in 2003. After he was rearrested in 2004, a state judge converted the prior YOA sentences to adult convictions and committed him to the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to serve the remainder of his sentences. Coleman was paroled in 2007. In 2009, Coleman pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of federal law. Coleman’s presentence report determined his drug-trafficking convictions qualified as “serious drug offenses” under the ACCA and recommended the application of the armed career offender guideline. The issue on appeal to the Tenth Circuit concerned whether drug-trafficking convictions that are initially adjudicated under Oklahoma’s Youthful Offender Act qualify as “serious drug offenses” under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). The Tenth Circuit concluded they do, and affirmed Defendant's sentence.
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