United States v. Raymond Bruce Belton

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted the defendant of conspiracy to possess more than five kilograms of cocaine, intending to distribute it in the Milwaukee area, and the judge sentenced him to thirty years in prison as a “career offender.” The appeal is from the sentence and raises a novel interpretive question under the sentencing guidelines.

So far as is relevant to this case, a “career offender” is a convicted defendant who “has at least two prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense.” § 4B1.1. The guidelines define “two prior convictions” to…