United States v. Juan Martinez

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: April 10, 2025
• Docket: 23-4276
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

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UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 23-4276

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

JUAN DANIEL MARTINEZ, a/k/a Amigo,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (7:22-cr-00014-FL-1)

Submitted: March 27, 2025 Decided: April 10, 2025

Before WYNN, HARRIS, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

ON BRIEF: Michelle A. Liguori, Raleigh, North Carolina, Marcus Shields, ELLIS & WINTERS, LLP, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. Michael F. Easley, Jr., United States Attorney, David A. Bragdon, Assistant United States Attorney, John L. Gibbons, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

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PER CURIAM:

Juan Daniel Martinez pleaded guilty, without a written plea agreement, to four

counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C.

§§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2) (2018). The district court established a base offense level of 22,

pursuant to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 2K2.1(a)(3) (2021), relying on

Martinez’s prior conviction for possession with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver

heroin, in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-95(a)(1), as the requisite controlled substance

offense to apply § 2K2.1(a)(3). After applying enhancements and a downward adjustment

and placing Martinez in criminal history category IV, the district court calculated an

advisory Sentencing Guidelines range of 70 to 87 months’ imprisonment and sentenced

Martinez to a prison term of 70 months. In this appeal, 1 Martinez contends that, after

United States v. Campbell, 22 F.4th 438, 441-44 (4th Cir. 2022) (holding that West Virginia

offense of delivery of crack cocaine, which could include attempted delivery, was not a

“controlled substance offense” under the Guidelines), his prior North Carolina conviction

is not a controlled substance offense under USSG § 4B1.2. The Government moves for

summary affirmance, arguing that Martinez’s claim is foreclosed by our decision in United

States v. Miller, 75 F.4th 215 (4th Cir. 2023). Although we deny the Government’s motion,

we affirm the criminal judgment.

1 We held this case in abeyance for our decision in United States v. Jackson, 127 F.4th 448 (4th Cir. 2025). Upon the issuance of the mandate in Jackson, this appeal was removed from abeyance and is ripe for disposition.

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At issue here is whether a North Carolina drug conviction satisfies the definition of

a controlled substance offense in USSG § 4B1.2 and which published decision controls the

analysis. In Miller, we held that—unlike the nearly identical West Virginia statute at issue

in Campbell—N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-95(a) “is a categorical match” with the definition of a

controlled substance offense in the Guidelines. 75 F.4th at 230-31. We highlighted a key

difference between the statutory schemes—“North Carolina separately criminalizes

attempt offenses from drug offenses,” id. at 230, but West Virginia does not, id. at 229, “at

least as [the West Virginia scheme] was presented in Campbell,” United States v. Groves,

65 F.4th 166, 173 (4th Cir. 2023). We noted that “[c]onstruing § 90-95(a)(1) to include

attempt offenses would render [North Carolina’s] attempt statute superfluous.” Miller, 75

F.4th at 230.

Martinez nevertheless contends that, under this Court’s “prior-panel-precedent rule,

Campbell binds this Court, not Miller.” Reply Br. at 3. We recently rejected a parallel

argument in United States v. Jackson. 127 F.4th at 454-55. Jackson argued that our

decision in United States v. Davis, 75 F.4th 428, 444-45 (4th Cir. 2023) (holding that the

South Carolina statute at issue qualified as a controlled substance offense under the

Guidelines’ definition), was not controlling legal authority, despite being published. 127

F.4th at 454. “Instead, Jackson argue[d], because there [was] an irreconcilable conflict

between Davis and the earlier-decided Campbell, Campbell continue[d] to control.” Id.

But “Jackson’s argument [was] foreclosed by Davis itself,” which had considered—and

rejected—the argument that Campbell governed for purposes of the South Carolina statute.

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Id. at 455. We noted that “Jackson may disagree with Davis’s analysis, but Davis is

published, binding authority.” Id.

Here, applying the court’s reasoning in Jackson, Martinez’s argument is foreclosed

by Miller—a published, binding decision. We held in Miller that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-

95(a) is a “categorical match” with the definition of a controlled substance offense in the

Guidelines, reasoning that the North Carolina statute (like the South Carolina statute at

issue in Jackson) criminalizes attempt offenses separately from drug offenses. 75 F.4th at

230-31. Although Martinez disagrees with Miller’s analysis—as the appellant in Jackson

did with Davis—that is of no moment. Because this court has previously addressed in

Miller the precise question Martinez raises in this appeal, and because Miller held that a

conviction under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-95(a)(1) is a controlled substance offense under

USSG § 4B1.2, the district court properly treated Martinez’s North Carolina drug

distribution conviction as a predicate controlled substance offense under the Guidelines

and properly overruled Martinez’s Campbell objection. The district court therefore

committed no procedural error in calculating Martinez’s Guidelines range. 2

We therefore affirm the criminal judgment. We dispense with oral argument

because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this

court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

2 Although Martinez also challenges the district court’s alternative rationale for its sentence, we need not reach that argument given that we are upholding the court’s conclusion that his prior North Carolina conviction is a controlled substance offense.