United States Third Circuit

In defendant's conviction for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, district court's determination that defendant qualified for sentencing enhancement under the ACCA is vacated and remanded where: 1) under the categorical approach, neither of defendant's prior convictions qualifies as a "serious drug offense," because in neither case does the statutory offense definition impose a maximum sentence of ten years or more; 2) under the modified categorical approach, defendant's 2002 conspiracy conviction does not qualify as a "serious drug offense" under the ACCA because the charging document and jury instruction did not actually require the jury to find a conspiracy to sell cocaine in order to convict him of conspiracy to sell drugs; but 3) the district court complied with the modified categorical approach in determining that defendant's 1999 conviction constituted an ACCA predicate.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/21/2012
• Published 12/21/2012

Judges

• Sloviter

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel