United States v. Arthur Darby, 549 F. App'x 499

Darby pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine under 21 U.S.C. §§ 841, 846.
The government, before plea, waived reliance on a prior felony-drug conviction to enhance the punishment, but listed the wrong case number in the § 851 notice.
The plea agreement contemplated a possible career-offender finding, yielding a base offense level of 34 (32 without the enhancement).
At sentencing, the district court found Darby was a career offender, applied a 3-level acceptance-of-responsibility reduction and a 2-level substantial-assistance reduction, for an offense level of 29.
With a career-offender status, Darby’s criminal-history category was VI, producing a Guidelines range of 151–188 months; he was sentenced to 170 months, consecutive to an undischarged state sentence.
Darby appealed on two grounds, both argued to be waived by the plea agreement; the government moved to dismiss the appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the enhanced statutory maximum was valid given the notice error	Darby	Darby claims the wrong case number invalidated the enhancement	Waived; sentence within the determined Guidelines range under the plea
Whether the district court erred in imposing a consecutive federal sentence by not adequately considering §3553(a) and §5G1.3	Darby	Waived by broad appellate waiver; Bowman does not apply	Waived; arguments about consecutive-sentence factors barred by the plea waiver

United States v. Bowman, 634 F.3d 357 (6th Cir. 2011) (preserved consecutive-sentence challenge when plea waived only within-governing range)
United States v. Toth, 668 F.3d 374 (6th Cir. 2012) (de novo review of waiver of appeal standards)