UNITED STATES v. CORTEZ JOHNSON (2021)

[Unpublished]

After Lavan Johnson pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, see 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and 846, and to distributing methamphetamine, see id. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), the district court ¹ deemed him a career offender and sentenced him to 180 months' imprisonment. Under § 4B1.1(a) of the Sentencing Guidelines, a career offender includes a defendant who stands convicted of a felony controlled substance offense and has two prior felony convictions for controlled substance offenses. The district court determined that Johnson had two such predicate convictions, but he maintains that one of them, a Tennessee conviction for possessing a controlled substance with intent to deliver or sell it, see Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-417(a)(4), does not qualify as a predicate.

Johnson concedes, however, that a prior decision of our court forecloses his argument, see United States v. Coleman, 977 F.3d 666, 670–71 (8th Cir. 2020), and says he is bringing this appeal merely to preserve his contention in case the Supreme Court or our en banc court overturns that case. Bound as we are by a prior decision, see United States v. Green, 946 F.3d 433, 440 (8th Cir. 2019), we affirm the judgment of the district court.

Affirmed.

FOOTNOTES

1.   The Honorable Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr., United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri.

PER CURIAM.