United States v. Ward, No. 18-4720 (4th Cir. 2020)
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Defendant's convictions under Va. Code 18.2-248 each qualify as a "controlled substance offense" that may trigger the career-offender enhancement.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed defendant's 10 year term of imprisonment imposed after he pleaded guilty to one count of distributing cocaine. The court held that the district court did not erroneously sentence defendant as a career offender under USSG 4B1.1 where defendant's prior Virginia convictions for possession with the intent to distribute heroin fall within the Guidelines' categorical definition of a "controlled substance offense." Therefore, the district court correctly counted those convictions as predicate offenses for the career-offender enhancement.
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