United States v. Dayven Joseph

While incarcerated in a federal detention facility, Defendant Dayven Joseph obtained possession of marijuana on several occasions and provided some of that marijuana to another inmate. He was charged with two counts of possession of contraband and one count of providing contraband to an inmate, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1791 . Following his guilty plea, the district court imposed a 24-month sentence. Joseph timely appealed.

Joseph argues that the district court plainly erred in interpreting § 1791(c) to require consecutive sentences for convictions when they are based on two separate items of contraband. As we explain below, § 1791 prohibits the possession of contraband by federal prison inmates and the provision of contraband to them. The allegations in Counts 1 and 2 in the indictment involved a single item of marijuana that entered the prison in December 2010. Count 1 charged Joseph with possessing contraband marijuana while an inmate of a federal prison, and Count 2 charged him with providing that marijuana to another inmate. Count 4 charged Joseph with possessing a separate item of marijuana as a federal inmate in February 2011. At the sentencing hearing, the…