Professional Documents
Culture Documents
No. 09-4775
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of Virginia, at Roanoke.
Glen E. Conrad, District
Judge. (7:08-cr-00041-gec-3)
Submitted:
Decided:
PER CURIAM:
A jury found Robert Dwayne Early guilty of one count
of conspiracy to distribute one hundred grams or more of heroin,
in violation of 21 U.S.C. 846 (2006), one count of attempted
possession with the intent to distribute heroin and two counts
of distribution and possession with the intent to distribute
heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C) (2006).
The district court determined that Early was a career offender
under
U.S.
Sentencing
Guidelines
(2008)
and
calculated
his
months
to
life
advisory
imprisonment.
(USSG)
Manual
Guidelines
After
4B1.1(a)
range
imposing
at
360
downward
Specifically,
he asserts that the court improperly counted his 1988 New Jersey
conviction for possession with the intent to distribute cocaine,
an
offense
committed
when
he
was
seventeen,
as
predicate
sentence
for
that
conviction.
Finding
no
error,
we
affirm.
We
review
the
district
courts
sentence,
whether
under
deferential
abuse-of-discretion
standard.
In conducting
this
review,
procedural
we
first
error,
examine
the
including
sentence
failing
for
to
significant
calculate
(or
Id. at 51.
reviewing
the
the
Guidelines,
district
courts
review
findings
we
application
of
fact
of
for
clear
In
Sentencing
error
and
330, 334 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 130 S. Ct. 290 (2009).
Section
4B1.1(a)
of
the
Guidelines
provides
that
or
4B1.1(a)(3).
controlled
substance
offense.
USSG
adult
conviction
conviction
under
the
if
laws
of
it
the
is
classified
jurisdiction
as
in
an
adult
which
the
Id.
cocaine
base
from
him.
Although
his
case
was
initially
trial
court
charged
with
with
exclusive
an
act
of
jurisdiction
delinquency,
where
see
juvenile
N.J.
Stat.
is
Ann.
Earlys
the
case
adult
to
criminal
:4A-26 :4A-27.
the
Criminal
trial
Division
court
of
of
record,
Superior
see
id.
Id. :4A-28.
of
N.J.
(repealed
1987).
Stat.
Under
Ann.
New
24:21-19a(1)
Jersey
law,
(West
then,
Early
1987)
was
Insofar
as
Early
challenges
the
career
offender
designation on the basis that the record fails to disclose
whether he or New Jersey moved for the transfer from the family
part to the criminal division of the state superior court, Early
fails to put forth anything to overcome the presumption of
regularity afforded to official proceedings, see, e.g., USPS v.
Gregory, 534 U.S. 1, 10 (2001); Koch v. United States, 150 F.2d
762, 763 (4th Cir. 1945).
New
commit
offender.
procedural
Early
reasonableness
of
error
raises
his
in
no
sentencing
challenge
sentence,
and
we
Early
to
the
therefore
as
career
substantive
affirm
the