US v. Parks, No. 09-2791

In US v. Parks, No. 09-2791, the court affirmed defendant's sentence for possession with intent to distribute heroin where defendant's prior Missouri conviction for escape from confinement was a crime of violence.

As the court wrote:  "Jose Parks pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). The district court1 sentenced him as a career offender to 151 months in prison, the bottom of the career offender advisory guidelines range. If Parks is not a career offender, the range would be 41 to 51 months. Parks appealed, arguing that his prior Missouri conviction for escape from confinement was not a crime of violence. We affirmed, applying our prior rulings that all escape offenses are, categorically, crimes of violence. United States v. Parks, 249 F. App'x 484, 485 (8th Cir. 2007). The Supreme Court then decided Chambers v. United States, 129 S. Ct. 687 (2009), which held that failure to report or return to confinement is not a violent felony, and remanded this case to us for reconsideration in light of Chambers. Parks v. United States, 129 S. Ct. 994 (2009)."

Related Resources

• Full Text of US v. Parks, No. 09-2791