U.S. v. Dozier

Dist. Ct. did not err in sentencing defendant to 20-year term of incarceration on drug conspiracy charge, where said sentence was based, in part, on defendant qualifying for instant enhanced sentence under Controlled Substance Act due to defendant’s prior Texas conviction for unlawful possession of cocaine that qualified as “felony drug offense” under said Act. While defendant argued that his Texas conviction did not qualify as felony drug offense because he had pleaded guilty to said offense under circumstances where prosecutor had agreed to defendant serving only nine-month sentence, and because felony drug offense as defined under Act was offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, Ct. of Appeals found that Texas conviction was felony drug offense, since its statutory sentencing range included sentences from six months to two years. Ct. further noted that under Texas law, conviction for state felony remains conviction for state felony, even though sentencing court exercises discretion to impose misdemeanor-length sentence. (Dissent filed.)