In U.S. v. Shannon, No. 10-10599 (Jan. 26, 2011), the Court held that a prior conviction for the purchase of cocaine in violation of Florida law did not qualify as a “controlled substance offense” for purposes of “career offender” status under the Guidelines.
The Court noted that the Florida statute encompassed different conduct, but because the record before the district court did not indicate the statutorily prohibited act for which the defendant was convicted, the Court was required to assume that his act was the “least prohibited act,” i.e., “purchase.”
The Court rejected the government’s argument that purchase of cocaine was equivalent to “possession” of cocaine. The Court noted that the Florida statute distinguished between “purchase” and “possession.” In addition, the career offender Guideline referred to possession, not purchase.
