UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 98-4652
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
ALBERT M. MCDOWELL, JR.,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western Dis-
trict of Virginia, at Abingdon. Glen M. Williams, Senior District
Judge. (CR-97-45-A)
Submitted: June 29, 1999 Decided: July 15, 1999
Before HAMILTON, LUTTIG, and KING, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Joseph Franklin Dene, DENE & DENE, Abingdon, Virginia, for Appel-
lant. Robert P. Crouch, Jr., United States Attorney, Rick A.
Mountcastle, Assistant United States Attorney, Abingdon, Virginia,
for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Albert M. McDowell, Jr., appeals his conviction and sentence
for being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18
U.S.C.A. § 922(g)(1) (West Supp. 1999). The district court prop-
erly included McDowell’s 1974 and 1976 state convictions as predi-
cate offenses under 18 U.S.C.A. § 924(e) (West Supp. 1999), and
thus properly sentenced McDowell as a career offender. See 18
U.S.C.A. § 921(a)(20) (West Supp. 1999); United States v. O’Neal,
___ F.3d ___, No. 96-4188, 1999 WL 351147 (4th Cir. June 2, 1999);
United States v. Hairston, 71 F.3d 115, 117-18 (4th Cir. 1995).
The district court likewise did not abuse its discretion in
admitting evidence of McDowell’s Mississippi arrest involving
possession of a handgun. See United States v. Queen, 132 F.3d 991,
995-97 (4th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 1572 (1998); Fed.
R. Evid. 404(b).
We affirm McDowell’s conviction and sentence. We dispense
with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately set forth in the materials before the court and argument
would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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