Summary
The Fourth Circuit vacated and remanded a sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), holding that prior South Carolina convictions for possession with intent to distribute marijuana near a school did not qualify as "serious drug offenses." The court applied the categorical approach and found that South Carolina's 2013 definition of marijuana, which included hemp, was broader than the federal definition after the 2018 Farm Bill excluded hemp, making the state statute overbroad. The court also held that the South Carolina statute was indivisible as to drug type, so the modified categorical approach could not narrow the conviction to a qualifying drug. The error was deemed plain and affected substantial rights, warranting resentencing.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Hope's prior South Carolina convictions under S.C. Code § 44-53-445 qualify as 'serious drug offenses' under the ACCA after the 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the federal definition of marijuana.
- Whether the district court’s error, if any, is subject to de novo or plain error review.
Holdings
- The prior state convictions do not qualify as 'serious drug offenses' because South Carolina's definition of marijuana, which includes hemp, is broader than the federal definition after the 2018 Farm Bill. Therefore, there is no categorical match.
- De novo review applies because Hope properly objected to the ACCA enhancement on the basis that his prior convictions were not serious drug offenses.
Key quotations
“Because the statute only requires that the state prove that Hope possessed a 'controlled substance,' the alleged specific substance only matters to the extent that it is used to prove that it is in fact a controlled substance.” (at 23)
“Thus, because South Carolina’s definition of 'marijuana,' as defined in 2013, is broader than the definition of 'marijuana,' as defined by the 2018 Farm Bill in 21 U.S.C. § 802, there is no categorical match.” (at 29)
Factual background
On February 1, 2018, Soterio Lamar Hope was named in a one-count superseding indictment charging him with knowingly possessing a firearm and ammunition as a felon. Hope pled guilty. During sentencing, the Probation Office determined that Hope qualified for a mandatory minimum sentence under the ACCA based on three prior South Carolina convictions dated May 22, 2013, for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in proximity of a school under S.C. Code § 44-53-445. Hope objected, but the district court overruled and imposed a 15-year sentence.
Procedural history
Hope pled guilty to one count of knowingly possessing a firearm and ammunition. The district court determined that Hope qualified for a mandatory minimum sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act based on three prior South Carolina convictions for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in proximity of a school and imposed a 15-year sentence. Hope appealed.
Remand instructions
Resentencing consistent with the holding that the prior convictions do not qualify as ACCA serious drug offenses.