United States v. Roger Olson, II, 849 F.3d 230

Olson pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute ≥50 grams of methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute GHB after his motion to suppress was denied.
Olson did not enter a written conditional plea, nor did the record show he reserved the right to appeal the suppression ruling or that the government or court agreed to a conditional plea.
The district court applied the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines § 4B1.1 career-offender enhancement based on Olson’s two prior California § 11378 convictions for possession of methamphetamine for sale.
Olson appealed, challenging (1) the denial of his motion to suppress and (2) the application of the career-offender guideline on the ground that § 11378 criminalizes offers to sell (not possession with intent to sell).
The Fifth Circuit considered waiver principles governing unconditional guilty pleas and prior precedent about the scope of Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11378.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Olson can appeal denial of his motion to suppress after an unconditional guilty plea	Olson sought to challenge suppression denial on appeal	Government argued Olson waived nonjurisdictional challenges by pleading guilty unconditionally	Court held Olson waived the suppression challenge because he pleaded guilty voluntarily and unconditionally and did not preserve a conditional plea
Whether a § 11378 conviction qualifies as a "controlled-substance offense" for the career-offender guideline	Olson argued § 11378 criminalizes offers to sell and therefore may not require possession or intent to distribute, so it shouldn’t automatically qualify	Government maintained § 11378 requires actual or constructive possession with intent to sell, fitting the guideline definition	Court held § 11378 requires possession (actual or constructive) with intent to sell, so the convictions qualify and the career-offender enhancement was proper

United States v. Stevens, 487 F.3d 232 (5th Cir. 2007) (guilty plea waiver of nonjurisdictional pre-plea claims)
United States v. Wise, 179 F.3d 184 (5th Cir. 1999) (requirements for valid conditional guilty plea)
United States v. Castellon-Aragon, 772 F.3d 1023 (5th Cir. 2014) (treating § 11378 possession for sale as a drug-trafficking offense under guidelines)
United States v. Valle-Montalbo, 474 F.3d 1197 (9th Cir. 2007) (interpretation that § 11378 criminalizes possession with intent to sell)
United States v. Ford, 509 F.3d 714 (5th Cir. 2007) (possession with intent to distribute fits the guideline definition of controlled-substance offense)