United States v. Titley, No. 13-6245 (10th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseDefendant John Ervin Titley pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a controlled substance. The sentencing court based Titley's 15-year Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) sentence on his previous three state felony convictions. The issue this case presented for the Tenth Circuit's review centered on an equal protection challenge to the provision in the ACCA that defined a “serious drug offense” to include a state crime for “manufacturing, distributing, or possessing with intent to distribute, a controlled substance . . . for which a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more is prescribed by law.” Titley conceded his conviction for armed robbery in Missouri qualified as a “violent felony” under the ACCA. Although his convictions for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in Arkansas and unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in Oklahoma otherwise qualified for the ACCA enhancement, he argued these crimes should not count because they would not be “serious drug offense[s]” had he committed them in 19 other states or the District of Columbia. Disagreeing with defendant's contention, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court's order.
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