State v. Ybarra

830 P.2d 522, 122 Idaho 11, 1992 Ida. App. LEXIS 101
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 6, 1992
Docket19475
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 830 P.2d 522 (State v. Ybarra) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Ybarra, 830 P.2d 522, 122 Idaho 11, 1992 Ida. App. LEXIS 101 (Idaho Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

SILAK, Judge.

Asencion Ybarra pled guilty to four counts of delivery of a controlled substance, two counts of failure to affix a drug stamp, one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with the intent to deliver, and one count of racketeering. For his conviction on these eight counts, Ybarra received eight separate sentences, six of which were to be served concurrently, and two consecutively. Under these sentences, Ybarra’s minimum period of incarceration is twenty years. Ybarra was also assessed $115,500 in fines and restitution. Subsequently, Ybarra moved the court, pursuant to I.C.R. 35, to reconsider his sentences, alleging that they were excessive. The district court, after receiving briefs and arguments from counsel, denied the motion. Ybarra now appeals the denial of his motion, and, for the reasons stated below, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On several occasions between August and November, 1990, Ybarra sold drugs to a confidential informant (Cl) who was working for the police. The drug transactions, and the negotiations leading up to them, were either tape recorded, video recorded, or both. A number of these transactions took place at the El Toreo Bar, which Ybarra owned and operated. In November, 1990, Ybarra was arrested and charged with the following twenty-two counts of drug-related offenses: Counts I through III, delivery of a controlled substance, cocaine, I.C. § 37-2732; Count IV, delivery of a controlled substance, marijuana, I.C. § 37-2732; Counts V through XX, failure to affix drug stamps, I.C. §§ 63-4205 and -4206; Count XXI, conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with the intent to deliver, I.C. § 37-2732; and count XXII, racketeering, I.C. §§ 18-7803(20) and -7804. All of the twenty-two offenses were charged as felonies.

Pursuant to a plea agreement, Ybarra pled guilty to Counts I-VI, XXI, and XXII. The state dismissed the remaining fourteen counts, each of which charged Ybarra with failure to affix a drug stamp. After Ybarra pled guilty to the eight counts stated, the district court ordered a presentence investigation (PSI) and scheduled a sentencing hearing. Ybarra was also granted permission by the court to hire an investí *13 gator to conduct a separate PSI on his behalf.

On June 5,1990, after the state’s and the defendant’s PSI’s were submitted to the parties and the court, a sentencing hearing was held before the district court. At the hearing, Ybarra represented that he was not really a drug dealer. He claimed that his involvement with drugs was limited to the incidents charged, and that in those incidents he was only acting as a “go between” for a personal friend, the Cl, because this friend had a drug problem and he, through his work in the bar, happened to know where she could get some drugs.

Ybarra also offered the testimony of Robert Moran, the presentence investigator hired by Ybarra to conduct a separate presentence investigation. Moran testified that he felt Ybarra “could function on probation,” and that incarceration in “the state penitentiary might be a little severe.”

The state, on the other hand, produced evidence through witnesses and audio and video tapes to show that Ybarra dealt in large quantities of drugs. It is undisputed that Ybarra does not, himself, use drugs. The record indicates that Ybarra’s drug dealings were solely motivated by the desire to make money. The state’s evidence showed that Ybarra sold an ounce of cocaine to the Cl on four separate occasions between August and November 1990, that Ybarra knew the Cl was reselling the cocaine to co-workers at her place of employment, and that the Cl told Ybarra that she would buy more cocaine from him depending on how fast she could sell the cocaine she had already purchased from him.

The state introduced evidence showing that an ounce of cocaine, the amount sold to the Cl in each transaction, is a large quantity of cocaine. The state’s evidence showed that the standard amount of cocaine transacted on the street is one gram for $100, and that an eighth of a gram is a standard amount consumed by cocaine users. In this case, the Cl was buying an ounce (28 grams) of cocaine from Ybarra for between $1,300 and $1,500. The state also introduced testimony from a witness who testified that between July and October, 1990, she (the witness) purchased an ounce of cocaine from Ybarra on six separate occasions. This witness further testified that she did not use cocaine, but simply sold it for profit. The evidence also showed that Ybarra was consistently able to supply his buyers with an ounce of cocaine on twenty-four hours notice, and that he was able to deal in pounds of marijuana on short notice.

Other evidence supports the conclusion that Ybarra is a “big” drug dealer, at least by eastern Idaho standards. The taped conversations between Ybarra and the Cl show that Ybarra was familiar with the process of pricing, packaging, and distributing drugs. The amount of drugs, the type of packaging, and the unadulterated condition of the drugs confiscated by the state in this case indicate that Ybarra obtained the drugs at a point close to their source. The taped conversations also reveal that Ybarra was contemplating a trip to Mexico to pick up more drugs himself, because then he could get them at half the price he was being charged by his suppliers. Ybarra even asked the Cl if she would like to accompany him on this trip. There is also evidence in the record to show that Ybarra bought cocaine by the kilo, and that he was going to sell at least one person a half kilo of the drug. He also indicated in one of the taped conversations that he was “sitting on thirty pounds of marijuana.” .

At the sentencing hearing, the state asserted that Ybarra had failed to comply with one of the terms of the plea agreement, which was to cooperate with the state’s further investigations into drug trafficking in Idaho. The state argued that Ybarra, contrary to the agreement, refused to meet with investigators or cooperate with any investigations. Finally, the state submitted evidence showing that Ybarra was both unremorseful and untruthful about the nature and extent of his involvement in drug trafficking. Based on this evidence, the state recommended that Ybarra be sentenced to twenty-five years with a ten-year minimum period of confinement and a $25,000 fine on each of the *14 cocaine delivery charges. On the marijuana delivery charge, the state recommended the maximum five-year fixed term of confinement to run consecutive to the time served on the sentences for Counts I, II, and III. The state also recommended a $5,000 fine. The state did not recommend specific sentences on the drug stamp, conspiracy, and racketeering counts, but asked the court, based on the serious nature of the crimes, to impose the penalties which the legislature set for those crimes in order to send the message that those who conspire to deal drugs and who do so as a business for profit will be punished harshly. The state also asked the court to order that restitution be paid to the state in the amount of $15,500.

At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, the district court imposed the following sentences:

Counts I — III Delivery of a Controlled Substance, Cocaine:

10 fixed/15 indeterminate $25,000 (Concurrent)

Count IV Delivery of a Controlled Substance, Marijuana:

5 fixed $5,000 (Concurrent)

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Related

State v. Rogerson
966 P.2d 53 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 1998)
State v. Acha
838 P.2d 873 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
830 P.2d 522, 122 Idaho 11, 1992 Ida. App. LEXIS 101, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ybarra-idahoctapp-1992.