Prior OK Conviction Qualifies As A Drug Offense Under Guidelines

U.S. v. Smith, --- F.3d ----, 2006 WL 14571(10th Cir. January 04, 2006)

10th upheld district court decision that under the advisory guidelines (and here the 10th demonstrates that if it is a GL sentence, and the appeal is taken totally within GL issues, the GLs get crunched like in the days of old, and the decisional law applies) D had a prior drug related conviction. The more broadly worded GL advisory notes indicate that D’s Oklahoma prior for “acquiring proceeds derived from illegal drug activity” is a drug prior, even though the guideline itself is narrower and does not list anything like “acquiring proceeds” as qualifying. The GL notes say “aiding and abetting”= drug offense, and the Okla. stat. prohibits conduct that looks like aiding and abetting, so 10th looks at the Okla. charging documents and proceedings and D said in Okla. plea that he received the money from selling drugs. So, his prior should be treated as drug related under the GL.