United States v. Brown

¶1 Cassius James Brown appeals the sentence he received in conjunction with his *780 guilty-plea conviction for possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of a substance containing cocaine. He asserts that the district court erred in sentencing him as a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 because he had received misdemeanor sentences for his two state jail felony convictions pursuant to a Texas Penal Code provision. Because Brown’s guilty plea to a state jail felony exposed him to the possibility of a sentence of more than one year in prison, these convictions count as felonies under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 despite the fact that Brown received a misdemeanor sentence under Tex. Penal Code § 12.44(a). See United States v. Rivera-Perez, 322 F.3d 350, 352 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 123 S.Ct. 2625, 156 L.Ed.2d 641 (2003). The judgment of the district court is thus AFFIRMED.