United States v. Bell

MEMORANDUM *

Defendant Bruce Bell appeals his 319-month sentence imposed by the District Court of the Central District of California following his guilty plea to armed robbery. Bell’s sentence reflected the district court’s conclusion that because Bell had received two prior felony convictions within the last fifteen years, he qualified as a career offender under the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“USSG”). Bell contests his sentence on the ground that his status as a career offender was predicated upon the district court’s erroneous consideration of a prior felony conviction that Bell alleges was more than fifteen years old. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and AFFIRM the district court.

DISCUSSION

Because the parties are familiar with the facts, we need not repeat them here. We review de novo the district court’s interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines and its determination that Bell was a career offender. United States v. Fagan, 996 F.2d 1009, 1017 (9th Cir.1993).

Pursuant to USSG § 4B1.1, a defendant is a career offender if:

USSG 4B1.1 (emphasis added).

For a sentence to qualify as a “prior felony conviction” for purposes of USSG 4B1.1, it…