United States v. Deondre Higgins

MELLOY, Circuit Judge.

In a bench trial, Deondre Higgins was found guilty of conspiring to distribute crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and 846, and distributing crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C). The district court found that Higgins’s conspiracy conviction qualified for an enhanced sentence under § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A) because of two prior felony drug offenses and that Higgins was a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 because of two prior controlled substance convictions. The court sentenced Higgins to a mandatory term of…