In U.S. v. Williams, No. 06-10302 (Nov. 13, 2006), the Court affirmed the imposition of a mandatory life sentence for conspiracy to possess five or more kilos of cocaine, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(ii).
The Court rejected Williams’ argument that his five-kilo conspiracy conviction could not be treated as having occurred after two or more prior felony convictions became final, because the five-kilo transaction occurred before the one of his prior convictions became final. The Court pointed out that conspiracy is a continuing crime, and that here the conspiracy to distribute cocaine, of which the five-kilo transaction was but one object, continued after the prior drug conviction became final. Hence, it was correct to count this prior conviction against Williams for purposes of imposing a mandatory life punishment.
Reviewing Williams’ second challenge to his sentence for plain error, the Court rejected the argument that the prior conviction should not have been counted as "final" because the time for appealing this conviction extended to a date less than two months before Williams’ arrest for the instant offense. The Court noted that the focus is not on the passage of time, but on the degree of continued criminal activity. Here, Williams’ attempt to obtain two kilograms of cocaine, though prevented by the actions of law enforcement, occurred after the prior conviction became final, and was a sufficient degree of criminal activity to justify triggering a life imprisonment.
