Filed: Aug. 24, 2005
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 04-4352 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus ARTHUR MEMMINGER, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Charleston. David C. Norton, District Judge. (CR-03-709) Submitted: July 29, 2005 Decided: August 24, 2005 Before LUTTIG, WILLIAMS, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Louis H. Lang, CALLISON TIGHE & ROBIN
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 04-4352 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus ARTHUR MEMMINGER, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Charleston. David C. Norton, District Judge. (CR-03-709) Submitted: July 29, 2005 Decided: August 24, 2005 Before LUTTIG, WILLIAMS, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Louis H. Lang, CALLISON TIGHE & ROBINS..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 04-4352
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
ARTHUR MEMMINGER,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Charleston. David C. Norton, District Judge.
(CR-03-709)
Submitted: July 29, 2005 Decided: August 24, 2005
Before LUTTIG, WILLIAMS, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Louis H. Lang, CALLISON TIGHE & ROBINSON, L.L.C., Columbia, South
Carolina, for Appellant. Jonathan S. Gasser, Acting United States
Attorney, John C. Duane, Assistant United States Attorney,
Charleston, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Pursuant to a plea agreement, Arthur Lee Memminger pled
guilty to possession with intent to distribute five grams or more
of crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (2000).
The district court sentenced Memminger to an enhanced sentence of
120 months of imprisonment based upon his prior convictions for
felony drug offenses. See 21 U.S.C.A. §§ 802(44), 841(b)(1)(B)
(West 1999 & Supp. 2005). Memminger appeals his sentence,
asserting that the district court erred in concluding that his
prior convictions were felony drug offenses, and that his
constitutional rights were violated because the prior convictions
were not alleged in the indictment. He does not challenge his
conviction on appeal. We affirm.
Because Memminger did not raise the sentencing issues in
the district court, we review for plain error. Fed. R. Crim.
P. 52(b); United States v. Hughes,
401 F.3d 540, 547 (4th Cir.
2005). To demonstrate plain error, Memminger must establish that
error occurred, that it was plain, and that it affected his
substantial rights.
Id. at 547-48. If a defendant establishes
these requirements, our “discretion is appropriately exercised only
when failure to do so would result in a miscarriage of justice,
such as when the defendant is actually innocent or the error
seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of
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judicial proceedings.”
Id. at 555 (internal quotation marks and
citation omitted).
Memminger asserts that the district court plainly erred
in concluding that the predicate offenses set forth in the
information filed pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 851 (2000) qualified as
felony drug offenses for purposes of imposing an enhanced sentence
under § 841(b)(1)(B). We disagree. Memminger had three predicate
offenses, each of which involved possession of a controlled
substance. Under South Carolina law, a subsequent possession
offense is classified as a felony punishable by not more than five
years of imprisonment. See S.C. Code Ann. §§ 44-53-370(c), (d)(1)
(Law. Co-op. 2002 & Supp. 2004);
id. § 44-53-470 (Law. Co-op. 2002)
(defining second or subsequent offense).* Because the predicate
offenses satisfy the definition of felony drug offense in
§ 802(44), we find that there was no error — plain or otherwise —
in the district court’s imposition of the ten-year statutory
mandatory minimum sentence. See United States v. Pinckney,
938
F.2d 519, 522 (4th Cir. 1991) (holding that defendant’s conviction
for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, which was
classified as a misdemeanor under South Carolina law, was properly
deemed a felony for career offender purposes because offense was
punishable by up to five years imprisonment).
*
These sections were amended after the district court
sentenced Memminger. See 2005 S.C. Acts 127.
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Memminger also contends that the district court plainly
erred in relying on the predicate offenses to sentence him to a
statutory mandatory minimum sentence because the offenses were not
charged in the indictment. His argument is foreclosed by our
recent decision in United States v. Cheek,
415 F.3d 349 (4th Cir.
2005) (holding that Sixth Amendment not violated when sentence
enhanced based on prior convictions that were not charged in
indictment or admitted by defendant).
Accordingly, we affirm Memminger’s conviction and
sentence. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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