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No. 05-4676
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Durham.
Frank W. Bullock, Jr.,
Senior District Judge. (CR-04-466)
Submitted:
Decided:
PER CURIAM:
Shon Edward Meeks was convicted, pursuant to a guilty
plea, to one count of distributing cocaine base, in violation of
21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A) (2006).
262
months
Guidelines
in
prison,
range,
and
at
ten
the
low
years
of
end
He was sentenced to
of
the
supervised
Sentencing
release.
He
cocaine
base
(crack)
to
two
undercover
agents
of
the
Drug
At the time he
entered his guilty plea, Meeks was 27 years old and he had a
GED.
he
sold,
was
32
under
at
Meeks
37.
as
the
version
of
the
Sentencing
USSG
career
offender,
4B1.1.
After
setting
an
his
offense
acceptance
of
This calculation
Meekss
minimum
offense
sentence
of
was
subject
to
statutory
twenty
years,
and
statutory
acknowledged
that
the
Guidelines
were
not
The
binding.
in
18
U.S.C.
3553(a)
(2006),
the
court
pointed
to
The
court stated that its been difficult obviously for the courts
to get the defendants attention.
analysis
required
under
the
relevant
case
law,
counsel
raises
two
challenges
related
to
not
agreement.
use
of
file
851
notice
as
part
of
Meekss
plea
his
statutory
841,
to
prior
mandatory
convictions
it
discretion
is
over
well
minimum
whom
settled
to
to
increase
sentence
the
pursuant
that
the
prosecute
and
to
prosecutor
what
applicable
21
U.S.C.
has
broad
to
file.
charges
[I]n
[prosecutors]
have
properly
discharged
their
official
duties.
Inc.,
U.S.
272
1,
14-15
(1926)).
Meeks
had
an
extensive
statutorily
prescribed
increased
penalty
based
on
that
history.
Next, Meekss claim that his prior convictions should
have been alleged in the indictment is clearly foreclosed by
this Circuits precedent.
Indus. Corp., 315 F.3d 264, 271-72 n.2 (4th Cir. 2002) (internal
5
quotation
marks
and
citation
omitted).
Thus,
this
claim
warrants no relief.
Finally, after the district court imposed sentence on
Meeks, the Supreme Court held, in Kimbrough v. United States,
552 U.S. 85 (2007), that the district court could deviate from
the Guidelines 100-to-1 crack cocaine to powder cocaine ratio
when imposing sentence.
Nevertheless, in accord
affect
Meekss
sentence,
and
we
conclude
it
does
not.
have
authority
imposed
to
assistance
do
to
lower
so.
Meeks
sentence
Moreover,
because
his
if
it
knew
Kimbrough
is
Guidelines
it
of
range
had
the
no
real
was
not
Ogman, 535 F.3d 108, 109 (2d Cir. 2008) (clarifying that when a
district court sentences a defendant pursuant to a Guidelines
range that results from his status as a career offender, and
without reliance upon the Guidelines drug quantity table and
the crack powder ratio that it incorporates, the sentence does
not
present
the
type
of
error
for
which
remand
is
and
Therefore,
have
we
found
affirm
no
Meekss
meritorious
conviction
issues
and
for
appeal.
sentence.
This
review.
but
If
counsel
the
client
believes
requests
that
such
that
a
petition
petition
would
be
be