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capped at 40 years. And under § 841(b)(1)(A), a defendant held responsible for 50 or more
grams of crack or five kilograms or more of powder cocaine is subject to a mandatory minimum
sentence of 10 years, with the statutory maximum sentence capped at life imprisonment. A
defendant subject to § 841(b)(1)(A) with a single prior felony drug conviction is subject to a
mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years; the mandatory minimum sentence is life
imprisonment under this subsection for a defendant with two or more prior felony drug
convictions.
Thus, a defendant (without a prior felony drug conviction) held responsible for less than
500 grams of powder cocaine cannot be sentenced to more than the statutory maximum of
twenty years for the count under § 841. It is, however, unlikely that the Guidelines would
mandate a sentence greater than twenty years (240 months) for that drug quantity. The Drug
Quantity Table specifies a base offense level of 24 for a defendant held responsible for between
400 and 500 grams of powder cocaine, and that offense level, by itself, would result in a
sentencing range of 100 to 125 months for a defendant placed in the most serious criminal
history category. Were the applicable guidelines sentence to exceed the statutory maximum for
the relevant drug quantity, however, the statutory maximum would limit the actual sentence
imposed (see U.S.S.G. § 5G1.1(a)).
This statute-trumps-guidelines-range rule also applied in the case of § 841 mandatory
minimum sentences. Thus, a defendant held responsible for a drug quantity triggering a
mandatory minimum sentence under § 841 would be sentenced to that minimum even if it
exceeded the upper end of the applicable guidelines range and thus required a greater sentence
that that authorized by the Guidelines alone (see U.S.S.G. § 5G1.1(b)). The statutory sentencing
ranges will typically be consistent with the ranges found in the Sentencing Guidelines because,
Convention