UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 02-4419
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
DEREK ALLISON,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Richard L. Voorhees,
District Judge. (CR-99-165-V)
Submitted: February 6, 2003 Decided: February 12, 2003
Before WILKINS, MICHAEL, and SHEDD, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Charles L. Morgan, Jr., Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant.
Robert J. Conrad, Jr., United States Attorney, Gretchen C.F.
Shappert, Assistant United States Attorney, Charlotte, North
Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Derek Allison was convicted by a jury of one count of
conspiracy to distribute cocaine base. On appeal, Allison alleges
the district court erred in assessing a two-level enhancement for
possession of a firearm pursuant to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines
Manual § 2D1.1(b)(1) (2000). Finding no reversible error, we
affirm.
Eugene Ervin, Allison’s co-defendant, testified at Allison’s
sentencing hearing that a handgun was present on the passenger seat
of Allison’s car when Ervin purchased nine ounces of cocaine base
from Allison. The presence of guns in a location where drug
transactions occur implicates the enhancement for possession of a
dangerous weapon. See United States v. White, 875 F.2d 427, 433
(4th Cir. 1989). The district court did not clearly err in finding
that a preponderance of the evidence supports a firearm.
Finding Allison’s claim to be without merit, we affirm the
sentence imposed by the district court. We dispense 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
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