United States v. Roman, 464 F. App'x 32

Roman pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 50+ grams cocaine base and 5+ kilograms cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846.
District court sentenced Roman to 240 months’ imprisonment and ten years of supervised release.
Government sought a second-offender enhancement under § 841(b)(1)(A) based on two prior felony drug convictions.
The district court did not conduct the § 851(b) colloquy required by Espinal.
Roman challenged the second-offender predicates as non-felony drug offenses; the government defended them as valid predicates.
The court affirmed the sentence on appeal, finding the § 851(b) defect harmless and the predicates valid.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the § 851(b) colloquy was satisfied	Roman contends the colloquy was not conducted.	Government concedes failure but argues harmless error.	Harmless error; § 851(b) defect did not affect outcome
Whether the predicates qualify as felony drug offenses under § 841(b)(1)(A)	Roman argues predicates are not felony drug offenses.	Government contends both convictions are valid felony drug offenses.	Both predicates qualify under modified/categorical approaches
Whether any error in resolving guidelines calculations was harmless given the mandatory minimum	Roman asserts district court should have resolved disputed calculations.	Not necessary to resolve if sentence is the mandatory minimum.	Harmless error; sentencing proper under mandatory minimum

United States v. Espinal, 634 F.3d 655 (2d Cir. 2011) (plain-error vs harmless-error review for § 851 procedures)
United States v. Savage, 542 F.3d 959 (2d Cir. 2008) (modified categorical approach for prior conviction predicates)
United States v. Folkes, 622 F.3d 152 (2d Cir. 2010) (categorical approach for predicate felony drug offenses)
United States v. Parker, 577 F.3d 143 (2d Cir. 2009) (harmless error analysis in guidelines computations)