United States v. Glass

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Glass pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1). The district court applied a career-offender enhancement, U.S.S.G. 4B1.1, based on two prior state convictions under 35 Pa. Cons. Stat. 780-113(a)(30) (from 2001 and 2004) then applied a downward variance, primarily on the observation that the pre-sentence investigation report overstated the seriousness of Glass’s criminal past. The court also noted Glass’s significant family responsibilities, his drug addiction, and his relatively young age and imposed a prison term of 132 months. The Third Circuit affirmed the imposition of the career-offender enhancement. Noting that Glass failed to challenge the inclusion of his convictions as predicate offenses for career-offender purposes prior to appeal and Glass’s first appellate counsel acknowledged that trial counsel had conceded the issue, the Third Circuit applied plain error review. The Pennsylvania law does not sweep more broadly than section 4B1.2; it is a “controlled substance offense” and may serve as a predicate offense to a career-offender enhancement under section 4B1.1. View "United States v. Glass" on Justia Law