United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Charles Bennie Hunt, Defendant-appellant, 900 F.2d 256 (4th Cir. 1990)

Following a trial by jury, the appellant, Charles Bennie Hunt, was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and distribution of cocaine. 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) (1). Thereafter, he was sentenced to 360 months' imprisonment and five years' supervised release. When calculating this sentence, pursuant to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the district court set the base offense level at 39 because of the appellant's status as a career offender. See Section 4B1.1 of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The appellant now argues that it was error for the district court to sentence him as a career offender. We disagree. Section 4B1.1 states that a defendant is a career offender

if (1) the defendant was at least eighteen years old at the time of the instant offense, (2) the instant offense of conviction is a felony that is either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense, and (3) the defendant has at least two prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense.

The record shows that the appellant was twice convicted on felony drug charges, charges substantially similar to those leveled here. Accordingly, the sentence imposed by the district court is hereby affirmed. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the record before us, and further argument would not aid in the decisional process.

AFFIRMED