U.S. v. Baker, 90-3098

• Decision Date: 21 April 1992
• Docket Number: No. 90-3098,90-3098
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Raymond Henry BAKER, aka Juan Ramon Randall, aka Jimmie Thornton Everton, aka Jim Everton, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 1390

961 F.2d 1390

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Raymond Henry BAKER, aka Juan Ramon Randall, aka Jimmie Thornton Everton, aka Jim Everton, Appellant.

No. 90-3098.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

Submitted June 11, 1991.

Decided April 21, 1992.

Stephen Gilmore, St. Louis, Mo., argued, for appellant.

Michael Fagan, Asst. U.S. Atty., St. Louis, Mo., argued, for appellee.

Before McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge, BRIGHT, Senior Circuit Judge, and BEAM, Circuit Judge.

McMILLIAN, Circuit Judge.

Raymond Henry Baker appeals from a final judgment entered in the United States District Court ¹ for the Eastern District of Missouri, after an Alford ² plea, finding him guilty of one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). The district court sentenced Baker to 236 months imprisonment, four years of supervised release and a special assessment of $50.00. For reversal, Baker argues that the district court misapplied the sentencing guidelines and erred in sentencing him as a career offender. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

FACTS

Baker was initially charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 846 (West Supp.1991), and possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). He was charged, by a superseding indictment, with money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) (West Supp.1991). These charges arose out of Baker's delivery of a package to a Federal Express office in Los Angeles in September 1989. This package was to be mailed to an address in St. Louis, Missouri. The package was searched with Baker's consent by law enforcement officials and several packages of cocaine were found inside a stuffed animal.

Baker entered an Alford plea to count II, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and the other two counts were dismissed at the request of the government. The parties filed a "stipulation of facts relevant to sentencing." The parties stipulated that Baker's prior criminal history included a 1972 Illinois conviction for robbery, a 1974 California conviction for armed robbery, and a 1976 federal bank robbery conviction in the District of Colorado. In this stipulation the parties agreed that the career offender adjustment, U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 (1990), was not applicable, but it was expressly noted that such a determination was a matter for the sentencing court to decide.

The district court found that Baker was a career offender using the California and Colorado convictions as the requisite prior violent felony convictions and sentenced Baker accordingly.

DISCUSSION

The sole issue on appeal is whether the district court correctly sentenced Baker as a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 (1990). To be sentenced as a career offender, there are three requirements: (1) the defendant must be at least 18 years old at the time of the instant offense, (2) the instant offense 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.

It is undisputed that Baker met requirements (1) and (2). The issue on appeal is whether Baker had two prior felony convictions. Baker admits that he has one prior violent felony conviction, the 1976 bank robbery conviction in Colorado. It is also undisputed that his 1972 Illinois robbery conviction is too old to be considered for career offender status under the 15-year time limit in U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2 (1990). At issue is the status of the 1974 California robbery conviction. This conviction falls within the 15-year time limit because the period of imprisonment extended into the time limit. Baker argues that the district court erroneously used his 1974 California conviction as one of the two requisite violent felony convictions for career offender status. Baker argues that his 1974 California conviction was a misdemeanor, not a felony, under California law when the offense was committed. Baker was sentenced to the California Youth Authority after his guilty plea to the 1974 robbery.

The government bears the burden of proving facts necessary to support a sentence enhancement. United States v. Williams, 905 F.2d 217, 218 (8th Cir.1990), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 687, 112 L.Ed.2d 678 (1991). The government argues that it has met this burden because Baker's 1974 conviction for armed robbery was a conviction for a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment of more than one year and therefore should be counted as a felony under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 (1990).

We review Baker's challenge de novo because it involves a question of the proper interpretation of a provision of the sentencing guidelines. United States v. Williams, 891 F.2d 212, 214 (9th Cir.1989) (citation omitted), cert. denied, 494 U .S. 1037, 110 S.Ct. 1496, 108 L.Ed.2d 631 (1990).

The classification of the conviction under state law as a misdemeanor or felony or as an adult or juvenile crime is not controlling. The guidelines define "prior felony conviction" as a "prior adult federal or state conviction for an offense punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, regardless of whether such offense is specifically designated as a felony and regardless of the actual sentence imposed." U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2, note 3 (1990). Baker's California conviction was for armed robbery, which under this definition is classified as a felony, regardless of its classification under California law, because it is punishable by a term of imprisonment of more than one year. United States v. Lenfesty, 923 F.2d 1293, 1299-1300 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1602, 113 L.Ed.2d 665 (1991); United States v. Hester, 917 F.2d 1083, 1084-85 (8th Cir.1990). Additionally, it does not matter that Baker was sentenced to the California Youth Authority and not given a prison sentence, because under the sentencing guidelines, the offense is still classified as a prior violent felony. U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2 (1990).

However, the guideline definition of "prior felony conviction" also includes "prior adult federal or state conviction." U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2, note 3 (1990) (emphasis added). Baker was sentenced as a juvenile to the California Youth Authority because...