United States v. Elder, No. 17-2207 (7th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseIn 2013, Elder and co-defendants were charged with having conspired to traffic large quantities of methamphetamine from Arizona to southwest Indiana. His co-defendants pleaded guilty. Elder was found guilty of conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, 21 U.S.C. 841 and 846. Elder had a 1997 Arizona conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia and a 1999 Arizona guilty-plea conviction for possession of equipment or chemicals for the manufacture of dangerous drugs. The court concluded that Elder was subject to a mandatory term of life imprisonment under section 841(b)(1)(A) based on two prior “felony drug offense” convictions. The Seventh Circuit concluded that his paraphernalia conviction did not qualify as a felony drug offense under 21 U.S.C. 802(44). On remand, the court concluded that the 1999 conviction qualified as a felony drug offense so that he was subject to a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence. The court calculated Elder’s guidelines range as 324-405 months’ imprisonment and sentenced him to 260 months. The Seventh Circuit issued a limited remand on the question of whether the error was harmless, finding that the 1999 Arizona conviction is not a “felony drug offense” as defined by section 802(44).
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on February 27, 2019.
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