United States v. Douglas G. Housley

Douglas Gary Housley, pro se, appeals a denial of a portion of his motion under Fed.R.Crim.P. 35(a) to correct an illegal sentence and seeks the vacation of a con viction which he contends merges with his conviction for a greater offense. We have consolidated his appeals. By separate memorandum disposition we address the issues raised on these appeals with the exception of two points not previously considered by this circuit. The first is the effect of a district court’s technical noncompliance with one of the procedures required by 21 U.S.C. § 851 (b) as this noncompliance is affected by section 851(e). The second is cumulative punishments under 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 848.

Sentencing Procedure

The government prior to trial had filed a notice of information of a prior felony conviction of the defendant and a notice of the government’s intent to enhance sentence in compliance with section 851(a). The trial court however did not completely comply with the provision of section 851(b) that

What happened was that after his conviction on drug charges Housley pleaded guilty to the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. At that time the court inquired if he had been…