United States v. Morris, No. 18-3668 (8th Cir. 2020)
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The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to distribute and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The court held that the district court did not err, plain or otherwise, in applying a criminal offender enhancement under USSG 4B1.1(a).
The court held that when a defendant has more than four prior sentences that could be counted, the plain language of the Guideline gives the district court discretion to choose among them. Because there is no ambiguity here, the court held that the rule of lenity is not applicable.
Court Description: [Kobes, Author, with Shepherd and Grasz, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. The court did not err in finding that defendant was a career offender for purposes of sentencing under Guidelines Sec. 4B1.1(a); when a defendant has more than four prior sentence that could be counted under the Guidelines section, the plain language of the Guidelines gives the court discretion to choose among them; as there is no ambiguity in the section, the rule of lenity does not apply.
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