United States v. Stephens

OPINION

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge.

Damon L. Stephens was convicted by a jury of two drug-related crimes committed two months apart. The district court sentenced Stephens as a career offender to 270 months of imprisonment. He now challenges both his convictions and his sentence. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM Stephens’s conviction, but VACATE his sentence and REMAND the case for resentencing consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

On April 18, 2006, Stephens received a telephone call from Edward Sumbera, a drug user with whom he had previously dealt. Sumbera requested that…