United States v. Billings

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  Plaintiff-Appellee, v.  No. 99-4677 KEITH DARNELL BILLINGS, Defendant-Appellant.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Florence. C. Weston Houck, District Judge. (CR-99-249) Submitted: October 20, 2000 Decided: November 2, 2000 Before WILKINS and KING, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. COUNSEL Louis H. Lang, CALLISON, TIGHE & ROBINSON, L.L.P., Colum- bia, South Carolina, for Appellant. J. Rene Josey, United States Attor- ney, Alfred W. Bethea, Jr., Assistant United States Attorney, Florence, South Carolina, for Appellee. 2 UNITED STATES v. BILLINGS Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). OPINION PER CURIAM: Keith Darnell Billings appeals his conviction and sentence for con- spiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine base and powder cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (1994). Finding no reversible error, we affirm. On appeal, Billings contends that the Supreme Court’s recent deci- sion in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. ___, 120 S. Ct. 2348 (2000), requires that his conviction and sentence be vacated. Because Bil- lings’ sentence of 210 months does not exceed the twenty-year statu- tory maximum set out in 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(b)(1)(C) (West 1999) for the core offense without enhancement for drug quantity, we find that his sentence is permissible under Apprendi. See United States v. Angle, Nos. 96-4662/4672, 99-4187, 2000 WL 1515159, *10 (4th Cir. Oct. 12, 2000); United States v. Aguayo-Delgado, 220 F.3d 926, 933 (8th Cir. 2000). Accordingly, we affirm Billings’ conviction and sentence. We dis- pense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED