U.S. v. Hubbert

Dist. Ct. did not err in sentencing defendant to 188-month term of incarceration on four 2016 drug distribution charges, where said sentence was based in part on finding that defendant qualified for career offender treatment, that, in turn, was based in part on defendant’s state-court conviction on 2011 charge of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, which, according to defendant, constituted relevant conduct with request to his conviction on 2016 charges. Although finding that defendant’s conviction on 2011 charge constituted relevant conduct with respect to 2016 charges would disqualify defendant for career offender sentencing treatment, relevant conduct guidelines treat as relevant conduct all acts that were part of same course of conduct or plan as offense of conviction. Moreover, record did not support defendant’s claim that his conviction on 2011 charge qualified as relevant conduct for instant 2016 offenses, where: (1) 2011 offense concerned only single, small controlled purchase involving different drug than 2016 offenses; and (2) five-year gap militated against finding that 2011 offense was part of common scheme or same course of dealing with respect to 2016 offenses that concerned significantly larger purchases of different drugs. Alternatively, defendant would still be assigned same criminal history category of VI absent finding as career offender status, where defendant’s criminal history, absent traffic and minor offenses, would place him in VI category.