United States v. Steven Anthony Garcia AKA Karlton Morgan

Steven Garcia, a federal prisoner, appeals the denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to vacate his special parole term. He does not in this proceeding challenge his custodial sentence of 15 years. Garcia contends his special parole term was illegal because (1) the district court failed to specify the count to which the special parole term attached; (2) the special parole term was invalidated by amendment to 21 U.S.C. § 841 (b)(1)(A); and (3) the special parole term of 25 years was unauthorized by law. We affirm.

Garcia was properly sentenced to a special parole term under 21 U.S.C. § 841 (b)(1)(A) (1981) for having violated 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1), aiding and abetting the possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. At the time of Garcia’s crime, § 841(b)(1)(A) mandated a special parole term of at least three years for the first-time violators of § 841(a)(1). See United States v. Kenyon, 519 F.2d 1229, 1231 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 935 , 96 S.Ct. 293 , 46 L.Ed.2d 267 (1975). The trial court made it clear in Garcia’s Judgment and Commitment that special parole was being imposed as part of the sentence for his violating § 841(a)(1). Accordingly, the…