Ramon Belducea-Mancinas v. United States
Environmental SocialSecurity Securities Immigration
Is it obvious error to find a prior federal drug trafficking conviction is a 'controlled substance offense' under the Sentencing Guidelines when the substance trafficked is not, at the time of sentencing, categorically a federally controlled substance?
QUESTION PRESENTED FOR REVIEW Ramon Belducea-Mancinas was sentenced as a career offender based on pre-2018 federal convictions for conspiracy to distribute marijuana. In December 2018, Congress narrowed the definition of marijuana to exclude hemp. The Fifth Circuit already defined “controlled substance” in the Sentencing Guidelines as a substance controlled by the federal Controlled Substances Act. Yet, the court of appeals held the error was not plain because the court had not decided this precise question. Had Belducea been prosecuted in the Ninth Circuit, the error would have been deemed plain. The question presented is: Is it obvious error to find a prior federal drug trafficking conviction is a “controlled substance offense” under the Sentencing Guidelines when the substance trafficked is not, at the time of sentencing, categorically a federally controlled substance? ili No. — In the Supreme Court of the United States ROMAN BELDUCEA-MANCINAS, Petitioner, V. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS OF THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Petitioner Roman Belducea-Mancinas asks that a writ of certiorari issue to review the opinion and judgment entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on April 26, 2022.