USA v. Vargas, No. 21-20140 (5th Cir. 2022)
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Defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sections 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B). The probation officer determined that Defendant was a career offender under Section 4B1.1(a) of the United States Sentencing Guidelines because the instant offense, as well as Defendant’s prior convictions for possession with intent to distribute amphetamine and conspiracy to possess with intent to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, qualified as controlled substance offenses. The district court overruled Defendant’s objection to the career-offender enhancement and sentenced him to 188 months of imprisonment.
Defendant argued that the district court erred in treating his instant and prior conspiracy convictions as controlled substance offenses. He asserted that even if Lightbourn was previously binding for the proposition that Section 4B1.2’s inchoate-offense commentary is subject to deference, that is no longer the case because Kisor v. Wilkie, 139 S. Ct. 2400 (2019), fundamentally altered the deference afforded to the Guidelines commentary under Stinson v. United States, 508 U.S. 36 (1993).
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment, holding that it cannot say Kisor unequivocally overruled the court’s precedent holding that Section 4B1.1’s career offender enhancement includes inchoate offenses like conspiracy. The court reasoned that mere “hint” from the Court as to how it might rule in the future is not enough to circumvent the rule of orderliness and disregard circuit precedent.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on August 24, 2022.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on July 24, 2023.
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