Whether the phrase 'controlled substance' in U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(b) includes substances excluded from the Controlled Substances Act

QUESTIONS PRESENTED A defendant convicted of violating the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 801, et seq. (the “CSA”) is a “career offender” under the United States Sentencing Guidelines if, among other things, he “has at least two prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense.” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1(a). The Guidelines define “controlled substance offense,” in part, as “an offense under federal or state law, punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, that prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled substance.” U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(b) (emphasis added). Further, the Guideline applicable to a felon in possession, U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1, increases a defendant’s base offense level if a defendant has prior “controlled substance offenses,” as that term is used in the career offender Guideline, U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2. The questions presented are: 1. Does the phrase "controlled substance" in U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(b), including as it is incorporated into U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1, include substances that are excluded from the CSA? 2. When defining an operative, but undefined, term in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, should courts use analogous federal statutory definitions, should they use State statutory definitions, or should they use a judge-made "natural meaning" of that term? ii