United States v. Amado Correa-Santos

785 F.3d 307, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7608, 2015 WL 2151775
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMay 8, 2015
Docket14-1668
StatusPublished

This text of 785 F.3d 307 (United States v. Amado Correa-Santos) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Amado Correa-Santos, 785 F.3d 307, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7608, 2015 WL 2151775 (8th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

GRUENDER, Circuit Judge.

Amado Correa-Santos pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. After vacating his original sentence, the district court 1 sentenced him to 240 months’ imprisonment. Correa-Santos now appeals. We affirm.

In early 2010, law enforcement officials learned that Javier Lopez-Montejano and Mario Lopez were supplying large amounts of methamphetamine from Iowa to northwest Arkansas. During a- telephone call intercepted by the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”), Lopez-Montejano and Lopez identified Correa-Santos as a distributor. In a second intercepted call, Lopez asked Correa-Santos if he needed “cars,” a code word for methamphetamine. Correa-Santos responded that he would answer later. In the interim, Lopez made the same offer to a second Arkansas distributor. The second distributor asked for five pounds of methamphetamine, and Lopez made arrangements to have the drugs sent via minivan on March 13, 2010.

On March 12, the day before the planned shipment, Lopez called Correa-Santos and explained that he had coordinated a delivery to Arkansas. Correa-Santos said that he did not need more methamphetamine because he had enough *309 to continue distributing. The next morning, Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers stopped the minivan transporting the drugs to Arkansas. A trooper’s drug dog alerted to the presence of narcotics, and a subsequent vehicle search revealed approximately five pounds of methamphetamine in a hidden compartment.

The DEA and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) jointly investigated the methamphetamine-distribution ring responsible for this drug shipment. The investigation revealed that Correa-Santos had received five-pound shipments of methamphetamine every two to three months for two years. He then sold the drugs either directly or through another dealer. Telephone records showed that Correa-Santos had spoken with members of the methamphetamine-distribution ring, including the second Arkansas distributor for whom the March 13 shipment from Lopez and Lopez-Montejano was intended. Investigators also learned that Correa-Santos and his relatives maintained several “stash” houses in Arkansas used by the methamphetamine-distribution ring. Finally, another member of the drug ring told authorities that Correa-Santos had obtained cell phones and vehicles for the distribution operation.

Based on this and other evidence, Correa-Santos was indicted for conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine mixture. He pleaded guilty. In determining Correa-Santos’s advisory sentencing guidelines range, the district court adopted the Presentence Investigation Report’s drug-quantity determination, which included the five pounds of methamphetamine intercepted on March 13. When Correa-Santos objected, the court responded by citing testimony offered by the Government’s witness at the sentencing hearing. The court explained that this testimony established that the March 13 shipment was attributable to Correa-Santos because it was part of the same conspiracy and either known to him or reasonably foreseeable to him. The court then completed the guidelines’ calculation and sentenced Correa-Santos to 240 months’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release, and a $25,000 fine.

Correa-Santos successfully moved for relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 after his trial counsel failed to file a direct appeal upon his request. United States v. Correar-Santos, Crim. No. 10-50110-002, 2013 WL 6669411, at *1 (W.DArk. Dec. 18, 2013). The district court vacated Correa-Santos’s original sentence and later imposed an identical sentence of 240 months’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release, and a $25,000 fíne. Correa-Santos timely appeals.

Correa-Santos argues solely that the district court erred at sentencing because it improperly included the March 13 shipment in its drug-quantity determination. We review the district court’s drug-quantity determination for clear error. United States v. Jefferson, 725 F.3d 829, 833 (8th Cir.2013), cert. denied, 572 U.S. • — -, 134 S.Ct. 1954, 188 L.Ed.2d 972 (2014). We reverse “only if the entire record definitely and firmly convinces us that a mistake has been made.” United States v. Garcia, 774 F.3d 472, 474 (8th Cir.2014) (per curiam) (quoting United States v. Minnis, 489 F.3d 325, 329 (8th Cir.2007)).

Correa-Santos contends that the district court clearly erred by attributing the five pounds of methamphetamine to him because he took no action to further the March 13 shipment. This argument misconstrues the law. “In a drug conspiracy case, the district court may consider amounts from drug transactions in which the defendant was not directly involved if those dealings were part of the same *310 course of conduct or scheme.” United States v. Walker, 688 F.3d 416, 421 (8th Cir.2012) (quoting United States v. Bradley, 643 F.3d 1121, 1126 (8th Cir.2011)). If the dealings were part of the same course of conduct or scheme, the court may attribute the drug quantities to the defendant if it finds, based on a preponderance of the evidence, (1) “that the transaction or activity involving those' drugs was in furtherance of the conspiracy” and (2) that the transaction or activity was “either known to that defendant or reasonably foreseeable to him.” United States v. Shakur, 691 F.3d 979, 991 (8th Cir.2012) (quoting United States v. Brown, 148 F.3d 1003, 1008 (8th Cir.1998)).

Correa-Santos argues that the March 13 shipment was improperly attributed to him because the transaction was not part of the same course of conduct or scheme in which he admitted involvement. Rather, he contends that the March 13 transaction was part of a second, separate conspiracy. We disagree and thus find no clear error on this basis. At sentencing, the Government proved through the testimony of ICE Special Agent Paul Cottrell that the March 13 shipment was part of the same course of conduct or scheme as the conspiracy in which Correa-Santos admitted involvement. Agent Cottrell testified that both - Correa-Santos and the intended recipient of the March 13 shipment were Arkansas methamphetamine distributors for Lopez-Montejano and Lopez’s operation. Telephone records produced by the Government showed that Correa-Santos spoke with Lopez and with the second Arkansas dealer.

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Related

United States v. Bradley
643 F.3d 1121 (Eighth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Adrian Minnis, Also Known as Bo
489 F.3d 325 (Eighth Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Nicole Walker
688 F.3d 416 (Eighth Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Rasheed Shakur
691 F.3d 979 (Eighth Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Daniel Miller
698 F.3d 699 (Eighth Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Edward Jefferson
725 F.3d 829 (Eighth Circuit, 2013)
United States v. Spotted Elk
548 F.3d 641 (Eighth Circuit, 2008)
United States v. Ramon Garcia
774 F.3d 472 (Eighth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Joseph Trent Mosby
177 F.3d 1067 (Eighth Circuit, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
785 F.3d 307, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 7608, 2015 WL 2151775, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-amado-correa-santos-ca8-2015.