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South Carolina Youthful Offender Sentence Is "Serious Drug Offense" Under ACCA

By Jonathan Byrne

US v. Williams: Williams pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. In the PSR, the probation officer recommended that Williams be treated as an Armed Career Criminal because of three prior qualifying convictions. Williams did not dispute the convictions, but argued that a prior South Carolina drug conviction, for which he was sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act, did not meet the definition of "serious drug offense" in the ACCA, because the maximum term to be served as a Youthful Offender is six years in prison. The district court disagreed and sentenced Williams to 180 months in prison.On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirms. The court notes that the ACCA's definition of "serious drug offense" includes only those drug offenses with a statutory maximum penalty of more than 10 years in prison...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Circuit Blog on November 16, 2007 (boomark / email).