United States v. James McEachern ( 2015 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 14-4459
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
JAMES MILTON MCEACHERN,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Thomas D. Schroeder,
District Judge. (1:13-cr-00322-TDS-1)
Submitted: February 13, 2015 Decided: March 5, 2015
Before NIEMEYER, DIAZ, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Lisa S. Costner, LISA S. COSTNER, P.A., Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, for Appellant. Ripley Rand, United States Attorney,
Andrew C. Cochran, Special Assistant United States Attorney,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
James Milton McEachern appeals the 195-month, below-
Guidelines sentence imposed following his guilty plea to
possession with intent to distribute more than fifty grams of a
mixture and substance containing cocaine base, in violation of
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) (2012). He argues that the
district court erred when it classified him as a career
offender. Finding no error, we affirm.
We review sentences for reasonableness “under a deferential
abuse-of-discretion standard.” Gall v. United States, 552 U.S.
38, 41 (2007). We review de novo the district court’s
conclusion that a prior conviction qualifies as a career
offender predicate. United States v. Jones, 667 F.3d 477, 482
(4th Cir. 2012).
A defendant qualifies as a career offender if he has two
prior convictions for a crime of violence or a controlled
substance offense that were punishable by a term of imprisonment
exceeding one year. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual
§ 4B1.1(a) (2013). A district court must look to whether a
particular defendant could have received more than one year in
prison based upon his offense class and prior record level to
determine whether a prior North Carolina conviction may serve as
a career offender predicate offense. United States v. Simmons,
649 F.3d 237, 244 (4th Cir. 2011) (en banc).
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The district court here concluded that McEachern’s 2001
conviction for possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine
was a career offender predicate. The district court had before
it the North Carolina judgment of conviction, which indicated
that a North Carolina court sentenced McEachern on three felony
convictions, including the possession with intent to sell or
deliver cocaine conviction. These three convictions were
consolidated into one Class C felony based on a felony habitual
offender charge and McEachern was sentenced to seventy to
ninety-three months’ imprisonment. We find that the district
court correctly determined that McEachern was subject to a
sentence in excess of one year for his controlled substance
offense.
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment. We
dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the material before this
court and argument will not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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