United States v. Isaiah Henderson, 11 F.4th 713 (8th Cir. 2021). · Go Syfert
United States v. Isaiah Henderson, 11 F.4th 713 (8th Cir. 2021). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
“therefore, there is no textual basis to graft a federal law limitation onto a career- offender guideline that specifically includes in its definition of controlled substance offense, 'an offense under . . . state law.”
81 citation events (81 in the last 25 years) across 10 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: United States v. Christopher Evans (ca8, 2023-03-27)
Treatment trajectory · 2022 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
2022 2024 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 34 distinct citers. How cited ↗
examined Cited as authority (verbatim quote) United States v. Christopher Evans (4×) also: Cited as authority (rule), Cited "see"
8th Cir. · 2023 · signal: see · quote attribution · 1 verbatim quote · confidence high
therefore, there is no textual basis to graft a federal law limitation onto a career- offender guideline that specifically includes in its definition of controlled substance offense, 'an offense under . . . state law.
discussed Cited as authority (verbatim quote) United States v. Ricky Bagola
8th Cir. · 2022 · signal: see · quote attribution · 1 verbatim quote · confidence high
there is no requirement that the particular substance underlying the state offense is also controlled under .
discussed Cited as authority (quoted) Clayborn v. United States
N.D. Iowa · 2023 · quote attribution · 1 verbatim quote · confidence low
there is no requirement that the particular substance underlying the state offense is also controlled under a distinct federal law.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Eric Muhammad
8th Cir. · 2025 · confidence medium
This court has held that there is no requirement under the Guidelines “that the particular substance underlying the state offense is also controlled under a distinct federal law.” United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718-19 (8th Cir. 2021).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Gilbert Ellis
8th Cir. · 2025 · confidence medium
In United States v. Henderson, applying a categorical approach, this Court held that, under the Guidelines, “[t]here is no requirement that the particular substance underlying the state offense [must] also [be] controlled under a distinct federal law” to warrant the imposition of the career-offender enhancement. 11 F.4th 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2021).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Mar Maluoth
8th Cir. · 2024 · confidence medium
We review this issue de novo, “view[ing] the evidence in the light most favorable to the guilty verdict [and] granting all reasonable inferences that are supported by that evidence.” United States v. Waln, 916 F.3d 1113, 1115 (8th Cir. 2019) (quotation omitted). “[W]e will affirm if, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, a reasonable jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 715 (8th Cir. 2021) (citation omitted), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 1696 (2022).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Romone Jackson
8th Cir. · 2024 · confidence medium
But we may not look to ‘current state law to define a previous offense. [The defendant’s] uncontested prior marijuana convictions under the hemp-inclusive version of Iowa Code § 124.401 (1)(d) categorically qualified as controlled substance offenses for the career offender enhancement.” (citation omitted) (quoting United States v. Jackson, No. 20-3684, 2022 WL 303231 (8th Cir. Feb. 2, 2022) (unpublished per curiam))); United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2021) (holding that the term “controlled substance offense” as used in U.S.S.G. 1 The Honorable James E.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Andre Michael Dubois
11th Cir. · 2024 · confidence medium
See United States v. Lewis, 58 F.4th 764 , 768–69 (3d Cir. 2023); United States v. Ward, 972 F.3d 364, 372 (4th Cir. 2020); United States v. Jones, 81 F.4th 591, 599 (6th Cir. 2023); United States v. Ruth, 966 F.3d 642, 654 (7th Cir. 2020); United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2021); United States v. Jones, 15 F.4th 1288 , 1291 (10th Cir. 2021).
cited Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Timothy Brown
8th Cir. · 2024 · confidence medium
“We review de novo whether a prior conviction is a sentencing enhancement predicate.” United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 716 (8th Cir. 2021).
cited Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Henry Watkins, Jr.
8th Cir. · 2024 · confidence medium
“We review de novo whether a prior conviction is a sentencing enhancement predicate.” United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 716 (8th Cir. 2021), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 1696 (2022).
cited Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Lamont Bailey
8th Cir. · 2023 · confidence medium
United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2021), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 1696 (2022).
cited Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Jade LaRoche
8th Cir. · 2023 · confidence medium
“The jury’s credibility findings are virtually unreviewable on appeal.” United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 716 (8th Cir. 2021) (quotation omitted), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 1696 (2022).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Linder Divos
8th Cir. · 2023 · confidence medium
This court has held that an assault conviction under Iowa Code § 708.2 (1) constitutes a crime of violence for career-offender purposes, see United States v. Quigley, 943 F.3d 390, 395 (8th Cir. 2019); and we conclude that the Illinois drug conviction qualifies as a controlled substance offense, see United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718-19 (8th Cir. 2021), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 1696 (2022).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Jovell Swopes
8th Cir. · 2023 · confidence medium
Swopes also argues that the district court erred in calculating the applicable Guidelines range based on a prior Missouri conviction for sale of a controlled substance, but acknowledges that his argument is contrary to United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2021).
cited Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Ermin Adzemovic
8th Cir. · 2023 · confidence medium
United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 716 (8th Cir. 2021).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Rodney Fluckes
8th Cir. · 2023 · confidence medium
As Flukes acknowledges, a panel of this court held in United States v. Henderson that “[t]he career-offender guideline defines the term controlled substance offense broadly . . . . 1 The Honorable John A. Jarvey, then Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, now retired. -2- There is no requirement that the particular substance underlying the state offense is also controlled under a distinct federal law.” 11 F.4th 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2021) (quotation omitted), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 1696 (2022).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Quame Bennett
8th Cir. · 2023 · confidence medium
In United States v. Jackson, 2 we suggested “that the ordinary meaning of controlled substance is any type of drug whose manufacture, possession, and use is regulated by law.” No. 20- 3684, 2022 WL 303231 , at *1 (8th Cir. Feb. 2, 2022) (per curiam) (cleaned up) 1 The Honorable John A. Jarvey, then Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, now retired. 2 Although Jackson is unpublished, we applied Jackson in United States v. Bailey, 37 F.4th 467 (8th Cir. 2022) (per curiam), petition for cert. filed sub nom., Altman v. United States (U.S. Oct. 20, 2022) (…
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Diante Turman
8th Cir. · 2022 · confidence medium
“We review de novo whether a prior conviction is a sentencing enhancement predicate.” United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 716 (8th Cir. 2021), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 1696 (2022). -2- This Court has recently rejected similar claims regarding the delisting of hemp as part of the definition of marijuana under other states’ statutes and federal law.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Smith
10th Cir. · 2022 · confidence medium
See United States v. Ward, 972 F.3d 364, 372 (4th Cir. 2020); United States v. Ruth, 966 F.3d 642, 654 (7th Cir. 2020); United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2021); United States v. Howard, 767 F. App’x 779 , 784 n.5 (11th Cir. 2019) (unpublished).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Onterrail Altman, Jr.
8th Cir. · 2022 · confidence medium
Bailey concluded that “the ordinary meaning of . . . ‘controlled substance’ is any type of drug whose manufacture, possession, and use is regulated by law.” Id. at 469 (alteration in original) (quoting United States v. Jackson, No. 20-3684, 2022 WL 303231 , at *1 (8th Cir. Feb. 2, 2022) (per curiam) (quoting United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2021))).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Terrance Mason, Jr.
8th Cir. · 2022 · confidence medium
Controlled substance offenses under § 4B1.2(b) “include state-law offenses related to controlled or counterfeit substances punished by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.” United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2021) 1 The Honorable Stephanie M.
cited Cited as authority (rule) United States v. Darnell McConnell, II
8th Cir. · 2022 · confidence medium
We recently held in United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 719 (8th Cir. 2021), that 720 ILCS 570/401 is a “controlled substance offense” for the § 2K2.1(a) enhancement.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) United States v. James Wilkins, Jr. (2×) also: Cited "see"
8th Cir. · 2022 · confidence medium
We review whether the evidence was sufficient under a strict standard of review. “[W]e will affirm if, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, a reasonable jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 715 (8th Cir. 2021).
cited Cited "see" United States v. Dale Lucas, Jr.
8th Cir. · 2026 · signal: see · confidence high
See United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2021).
discussed Cited "see" United States v. Najawaun Quinn
8th Cir. · 2025 · signal: see · confidence high
“The standard of review is ‘very strict,’ and we will reverse a conviction only if we conclude that no reasonable jury could have found the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Nolen, 536 F.3d 834, 842 (8th Cir. -5- 2008) (quotation omitted); see United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713 , 715 (8th Cir. 2021), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 1696 (2022).
cited Cited "see" United States v. Nethaniah Gordon
8th Cir. · 2024 · signal: see · confidence high
See United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 716 (8th Cir. 2021), cert. denied. 142 S. Ct. 1696 (2022).
cited Cited "see" United States v. Todd Norman
8th Cir. · 2024 · signal: see · confidence high
See id. at 718-19 .
cited Cited "see" United States v. Timothy Bush
8th Cir. · 2023 · signal: see · confidence high
See United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 717-19 (8th Cir. 2021).
discussed Cited "see" United States v. Jaime Campos
8th Cir. · 2023 · signal: see · confidence high
See United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 717 (8th Cir. 2021) (holding our precedent dictates that “inchoate offenses are § 4B1.2(b) controlled substance offenses”).
cited Cited "see" United States v. David Wright, Jr.
8th Cir. · 2023 · signal: see · confidence high
See United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718-19 (8th Cir. 2021).
discussed Cited "see" United States v. Christopher Ramirez (2×)
7th Cir. · 2022 · signal: see · confidence high
See Henderson, 11 F.4th at 719 ; Ward, 28 972 F.3d at 374 .
cited Cited "see" United States v. Christopher Perez
8th Cir. · 2022 · signal: see · confidence high
See 11 F.4th 713 , 718–19 (8th Cir. 2021).
discussed Cited "see" United States v. Lavan Brandt, Jr.
8th Cir. · 2022 · signal: see · confidence high
See United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2021), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 1696 (2022); see also United States v. Jackson, No. 20-3684, 2022 WL 303231 , at *2 (8th Cir. Feb. 2, 2022) (unpublished per curiam); United States v. Scott, No. 21-3371, 2022 WL 1233083 , at *1 (8th Cir. Apr. 27, 2022) (unpublished per curiam).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." United States v. Richard Price
8th Cir. · 2026 · signal: see also · confidence medium
See United States v. Jackson, 110 F.4th 1120, 1125, 1129 (8th Cir. 2024), cert. denied, 145 S. Ct. 2708 (2025); see also United States v. Henderson, 11 F.4th 713, 718-19 (8th Cir. 2021).2 Accordingly, we affirm. ______________________________ 2 Even if an as-applied challenge to the felon-in-possession statute were available to Price, he could not succeed.
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
United States
v.
Isaiah Henderson
20-2594.
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Aug 27, 2021.
11 F.4th 713
Cited by 43 opinions  |  Published
1 passage pin-cited by 1 case
Pinpoint authority: bottom 69%
Citer courts: N.D. Iowa (1)
United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
___________________________

No. 20-2594
___________________________

United States of America

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee

v.

Isaiah Ramon Henderson

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant
____________

Appeal from United States District Court
for the Southern District of Iowa - Eastern
____________

Submitted: April 15, 2021
Filed: August 27, 2021
____________

Before LOKEN, WOLLMAN, and STRAS, Circuit Judges.
____________

LOKEN, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Isaiah Henderson of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). The presentence investigation report (PSR) determined that Henderson’s base offense level was 24 based on prior Iowa and Illinois convictions for controlled substance offenses. See USSG §

2K2.1(a)(2). The district court1 adopted this recommendation over Henderson’s objection, resulting in an advisory guidelines sentencing range of 140 to 175 months imprisonment. The court sentenced Henderson to the statutory maximum of 120 months. On appeal, Henderson argues the evidence was insufficient to convict and the court committed sentencing error because his prior state-law convictions were not “controlled substance offenses” as defined in USSG § 4B1.2(b). We affirm.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

At 2:30 a.m. on October 21, 2018, Detective Samantha Deney observed a fight involving three black women and a black man outside a Kwik Stop gas station in Davenport, Iowa. As Deney pulled into the parking lot, the women fled in two vehicles. The man entered the convenience store. Deney followed the vehicles and stopped one. Two hysterical women, Teonna Nimmers and Chaynel Hoskins, exited the vehicle. Nimmers screamed that a light-skinned black man with braids had a gun she described as a black semi-automatic firearm. Deney relayed that information to Officers Bret Digman and Evan Obert, who responded to the Kwik Stop. Upon arriving, Digman saw a light-skinned black man with braids exiting the store. He stopped this individual, later identified as Henderson, and patted him down, not finding a firearm. Obert went into the store where the only person inside, store clerk Katrina Kramer, told Obert she had seen Henderson walk toward the bathroom. Inside the bathroom trash can, Obert found a silver revolver with black electrical tape wrapped around the handle.

At trial, Nimmers testified she and Hoskins had arrived at the Kwik Stop that night after drinking and smoking marijuana. Hoskins saw an adversary, Laryn Williams, in another vehicle with Henderson. Hoskins left Nimmers’ vehicle, approached Williams, and began hitting her. Nimmers joined the fighting women, encouraging Hoskins to beat up Williams. Henderson got out of the other vehicle and approached the fight. Nimmers testified Henderson raised his shirt and flashed a black firearm in his waistband at her. Nimmers yelled at Hoskins to leave, and the two women got into Nimmers’s vehicle and left. Nimmers’ trial testimony differed somewhat from her statements to police and her grand jury testimony. Hoskins, Williams, and Detective Deney testified they did not see a firearm.

[*714]

After the jury found Henderson guilty of firearm possession, the district court denied his motion for judgment of acquittal or a new trial:

Taking the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, the Court holds there was sufficient evidence to support the Defendant’s conviction, including knowing possession of a firearm. The Government presented an eye witness, Teaonna Nimmers, who identified the defendant as the person possessing a firearm on the night in question. The other evidence presented, including video of the defendant’s movements inside and outside the convenience store, and testimony from law enforcement officers as well as store personnel, is consistent and supports the conclusion that the defendant knowingly possessed the firearm prior to placing it in the trash bin. As such, the interest of justice does not require Defendant be granted a new trial.

On appeal, Henderson argues the evidence was insufficient to prove he knowingly possessed a firearm. Applying a strict standard of review, we will affirm if, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, a reasonable jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Brooks-Davis, 984 F.3d 695, 697 (8th Cir. 2021).

The crux of Henderson’s argument is that Nimmers and Hoskins were unreliable witnesses who each had a motive to direct the attention of law enforcement away from themselves after driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana and assaulting Williams. Henderson argues that Nimmers was not credible because her trial testimony differed from her prior statements to law enforcement and her grand jury testimony. Despite thorough cross-examination that probed these motives and inconsistences, the jury convicted Henderson. “It is the function of the jury, not an appellate court, to resolve conflicts in testimony or judge the credibility of witnesses.” The jury’s credibility findings “are virtually unreviewable on appeal.” United States v. Hernandez, 569 F.3d 893, 897 (8th Cir. 2009) (citations omitted), cert. denied, 559 U.S. 915 (2010).

[*715]

Henderson further argues the evidence was insufficient to prove he possessed the firearm recovered from the bathroom because no fingerprints were found on the gun, and store clerk Kramer testified she saw Henderson walk toward the bathroom but did not see him enter it. However, no one else was in the store at 2:30 a.m., Obert found the firearm almost immediately after Henderson left, Nimmers testified the gun she saw was black, and the revolver in the bathroom had black electrical tape around its handle. “The absence of corroborating physical evidence,” such as fingerprints on the firearm, “is not a sufficient basis for us to conclude the jury acted unreasonably.” United States v. Mack, 343 F.3d 929, 934 (8th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1226 (2004); cf. United States v. Cox, 627 F.3d 1083, 1085-86 (8th Cir. 2010).

For these reasons, the court did not err in denying Henderson’s motion for acquittal or a new trial based on insufficiency of the evidence.

II. The Sentencing Issue

The district court increased Henderson’s base offense because he committed this offense “subsequent to sustaining at least two felony convictions of . . . a controlled substance offense.” USSG § 2K2.1(a)(2). “‘Controlled substance offense has the meaning given that term in § 4B1.2(b)” and in Application Note 1 to the § 4B1.2 Commentary. USSG § 2K2.1, comment. (n.1). Henderson has two prior state court felony convictions, a 2014 Iowa conviction for Delivery of a Schedule II Controlled Substance in violation of Iowa Code § 124.401(1)(c), and a 2015 Illinois conviction for Unlawful Delivery of a Controlled Substance in violation of 720 ILCS 570/401. On appeal, Henderson argues that neither conviction meets the definition of controlled substance offense in USSG § 4B1.2(b). We review de novo whether a prior conviction is a sentencing enhancement predicate. United States v. Boleyn, 929 F.3d 932, 936 (8th Cir. 2019), cert. denied, 140 S. Ct. 1138 (2020). “In determining whether a prior . . . conviction qualifies as a predicate offense . . . we apply a categorical approach that looks to the statutory definition of the prior offense[.]” Id. “[W]hen a federal enhancement provision incorporates state offenses by language other than a reference to generic crimes . . . the inquiry is focused on applying the ordinary meaning of the words used in the federal law to the statutory definition of the prior state offense.” Id.

[*716]

A. Henderson first argues that neither the Iowa nor the Illinois conviction qualifies because the state statutes include inchoate controlled substance offenses. Application Note 1 to USSG § 4B1.2 expressly provides that “‘controlled substance offense’ include[s] the offenses of aiding and abetting, conspiring, and attempting to commit such offenses.” As Henderson acknowledges, his argument that this commentary impermissibly expands the § 4B1.2(b) definition of a controlled substance offense is foreclosed by Eighth Circuit precedent holding that inchoate offenses are § 4B1.2(b) controlled substance offenses. See United States v. Merritt, 934 F.3d 809, 811 (8th Cir. 2019), cert. denied, 140 S. Ct. 981 (2020), citing United States v. Mendoza-Figueroa, 65 F.3d 691 (8th Cir. 1995) (en banc), cert denied, 516 U.S. 1125 (1996). As a panel, we may not overrule these decisions.

[*717]

B. Henderson further argues that his prior Illinois conviction is not a § 4B1.2(b) controlled substance offense because the Illinois statute’s definition of “controlled substance” is overbroad. The Illinois statute, 720 ILCS 570/401, defines controlled substances to include substances not found in Controlled Substances Act schedules that list controlled substances that are included in the federal statutory enhancement for committing a “serious felony offense.” See 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(A); 21 U.S.C. §§ 802(6) and (57), 841(b)(1)(A). At first blush, this is a strong argument. We recently agreed with the Seventh Circuit that 720 ILCS 570/401 is “categorically broader than the federal definition” because under Illinois law, cocaine substances include “optical, positional, and geometric isomers,” while the federal schedules include only “optical and geometric isomers.” United States v. Oliver, 987 F.3d 794, 807 (8th Cir. 2021), citing United States v. Ruth, 966 F.3d 642, 645-47 (7th Cir. 2020), cert. denied, 141 S. Ct. (2021). Henderson argues the federal schedules govern this issue under the so-called “Jerome presumption” that courts “generally assume, in the absence of a plain indication to the contrary, that Congress when it enacts a statute is not making the application of the federal act dependent on state law.” Jerome v. United States, 318 U.S. 101, 104 (1943),

We conclude the contention founders upon closer examination. An enhancement under USSG § 2K2.1(a)(2) is not a statutory enhancement, like the 25- year mandatory minimum sentence at issue in Oliver. It is a sentencing guidelines enhancement, adopted by the Sentencing Commission to carry out its statutory mandate to “assure that the guidelines specify a sentence to a substantial term of imprisonment for categories of defendants [that have] a history of two or more prior Federal, State, or local felony convictions for offenses committed on different occasions.” 28 U.S.C. § 994(i)(1) (emphasis added).

The Commission included in Part 4B of the Guidelines career offender provisions that substantially increase the now-advisory guidelines sentencing range for a defendant that “has at least two prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense.” USSG § 4B1.1(a). Consistent with 28 U.S.C. § 994(i)(1), the term “controlled substance offense” is defined in § 4B1.2(b) as “an offense under federal or state law . . . .” The Guidelines provide no separate definition of “controlled substance.” Henderson urges us to limit the extent to which Illinois controlled substance offense convictions under 720 ILCS 570/401 are included in § 4B1.2(b) by replacing the Illinois statutory definition of “controlled substance” with the Controlled Substance Act’s definition and schedules.

[*718]

In United States v. Sanchez-Garcia, 642 F.3d 658, 661-62 (8th Cir. 2011), the defendant used the Controlled Substances Act definition of controlled substance in arguing that a California controlled substances statute was overbroad. We did not hold that a state law crime must involve one of those substances to be a “controlled substance offense” under the career offender Guidelines. We simply affirmed the Guidelines enhancement at issue without addressing that question.

Other circuits have addressed the issue and reached conflicting conclusions. In our view, the answer to this question must begin with textual analysis. Section 4B1.2(b) defines a “controlled substance offense” that qualifies for various repeat- offender enhancements as “an offense under federal or state law.” In Ruth, the Seventh Circuit concluded that 720 ILCS 570/401 is “categorically broader than the federal definition” in the Controlled Substances Act and therefore “is not a predicate ‘felony drug offense’ under [Ruth’s] applicable federal penalty statute, 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C).” 966 F.3d at 647, 650. The Court then took up this guidelines career offender issue and concluded that “Ruth’s 2006 cocaine conviction under [720 ILCS 570/401] is a controlled substance offense according to the career-offender guideline.” 966 F.3d at 654. The “definition of controlled substance offense does not incorporate, cross-reference, or in any way refer to the Controlled Substances Act.” Id. at 651. Thus, “the career offender enhancement does not limit its definition of controlled substance offense to specific federal violations.” Id. at 654 (cleaned up); see United States v. Sheffey, 818 F. App’x 513, 520 (6th Cir. 2020) (“There is no requirement [in USSG § 4B1.2(b)] that the particular controlled substance underlying a state conviction also be controlled by the federal government.”) (quotation omitted). The Fourth Circuit recently set out the textual analysis more thoroughly:

[*719]

[O]nly an offense under federal or state law may trigger the [§ 4B1.2(b)] enhancement. An “offense” is, of course, a breach of the law. . . . So to satisfy the ordinary meaning of “offense,” there must be a violation or crime subject to either federal or state law. . . . [T]he ordinary meaning of . . . “controlled substance,” is any type of drug whose manufacture, possession, and use is regulated by law. Here, the state law . . . satisfies this second criterion of § 4B1.2(b). . . . The state has not restricted itself to regulating only those substances listed on the federal drug schedules. Instead, the offense identifies those substances that are “regulated” under Virginia law, which has its own drug schedules. So a conviction under [the Virginia statute] categorically satisfies the second criterion of § 4B1.2(b) [and therefore] is a “controlled substance offense” under § 4B1.2(b).

United States v. Ward, 972 F.3d 364, 370-71 (4th Cir. 2020) (cleaned up; emphasis in original), cert. denied, 2021 WL 2637911 (Jun. 28, 2021).

We agree with these decisions. “The career-offender guideline defines the term controlled substance offense broadly, and the definition is most plainly read to ‘include state-law offenses related to controlled or counterfeit substances punished by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.’” Ruth, 966 F.3d at 654 (citation omitted). There is no requirement that the particular substance underlying the state offense is also controlled under a distinct federal law. There is no cross-reference to the Controlled Substance Act in § 4B1.2(b), like the cross-references to 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a) and 18 U.S.C. § 841(c) in the definition of the term “crime of violence” in § 4B1.2(a)(2). Therefore, there is no textual basis to graft a federal law limitation onto a career-offender guideline that specifically includes in its definition of controlled substance offense, “an offense under . . . state law.” Grafting the limitation urged by Henderson would defeat the Sentencing Commission’s obvious intent, consistent with its statutory mandate under 28 U.S.C. § 994(i)(1), to include prior convictions for controlled substance offenses “under . . . state law.”

[*720]

Some circuits have interpreted § 4B1.2(b) as limiting prior state convictions for a “controlled substance offense” to convictions based on a “controlled substance” under the Controlled Substances Act. These decisions focus on the need for national uniformity in federal Guidelines sentencing reinforced by a “Jerome presumption” that “the application of a federal law does not depend on state law unless Congress plainly indicates otherwise.” United States v. Townsend, 897 F.3d 66, 71 (2d Cir. 2018); see Ruth, 966 F.3d at 653 (collecting cases).

We disagree with this reasoning. First, the Supreme Court has rarely cited Jerome and never to our knowledge in a Guidelines case. See Gamble v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 1960, 1967 (2019) (citing Jerome as background in declining to overrule the dual-sovereign double jeopardy rule). Jerome considered whether state law should be incorporated into an element of the federal statutory bank robbery offense. Second, Jerome only stated there is an “assumption . . . based on the fact that the application of federal legislation is nationwide.” 318 U.S. at 104. Supreme Court precedents make clear that this type of assumption only applies in the absence of contrary congressional intent. “There are, of course, instances in which the application of certain federal [law] may depend on state law. . . . But this is controlled by the will of Congress.” N.L.R.B. v. Natural Gas Util. Dist., 402 U.S. 600, 603 (1971) (quotation omitted). Third, and most important, the intent of Congress to depart from pure nationwide sentencing uniformity is clearly evidenced in 28 U.S.C. § 994(i)(1), which directs the Sentencing Commission to fashion guidelines that enhance the federal sentence of a defendant who has “a history of two or more prior . . . State . . . felony convictions.” This statute requires that the term “controlled substance offense . . . under . . . state law” in USSG § 4B1.2(b) be construed consistent with its plain meaning, not the interpretation urged by Henderson, even if this arguably weakens “national uniformity.”

[*721]

At sentencing, Henderson disputed the PSR enhancement recommendations, but he did not contest the fact of his Iowa and Illinois controlled substance offense convictions. Because the enhancement is proper based on the fact of a prior controlled substance offense conviction under state law, the district court did not err in imposing the § 2K2.1(a)(2) enhancement.

The judgment of the district court is affirmed. ______________________________

[*722]

1 The Honorable John A. Jarvey, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.