United States v. Basley

357 F. App'x 455
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedDecember 18, 2009
DocketNo. 08-4319
StatusPublished

This text of 357 F. App'x 455 (United States v. Basley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third 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. Basley, 357 F. App'x 455 (3d Cir. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

VAN ANTWERPEN, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Edward Basley appeals three of his convictions arguing the evidence presented was insufficient to support the verdicts. He further appeals the District Court’s determination that his sentence qualified for an enhancement because it found he had a prior conviction, and Bas-ley contends such a judge-made finding violates the Sixth Amendment. Additionally, he appeals the District Court’s sentence as unreasonable. For the following reasons, this Court will affirm the District Court’s judgment and sentence.

I.

Because we write solely for the parties, we will only address those facts necessary to our opinion.

Darren Cameron began cooperating with the government after police discovered a significant amount of drugs at his residence in September 2004. He told the officers he had obtained nine ounces of cocaine from Basley, for which he still owed $6,250, and the rest from Robert Wright, for which he owed $11,000. A Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) task force provided Cameron with funds to repay Wright and Basley. Between 2004 and 2005, Cameron met with Wright thirteen times and Basley once to repay his debts. During each meeting Cameron wore a recording device.

In April 2005, Cameron recorded a conversation during which Basley offered to sell him cocaine, but Cameron declined. On May 2, 2005, Cameron called Wright to purchase cocaine, but Wright was unable to satisfy the request. Moments later, Basley called Cameron offering to sell him the requested amount. Later that day, Cameron met Basley who fronted him cocaine in exchange for a promise to pay him $3,000. Subsequently, Cameron wore a recording device while meeting Basley twice to repay him for the fronted cocaine. In the meetings, Basley discussed issues related to drug distribution and told Cameron a story about when police impounded his car containing a .45 caliber gun (known as a Glock), cocaine base, and marijuana. [457]*457When Basley retrieved his car, his contraband was still inside.

On July 8, 2005, Basley called Cameron, who was in the presence of a DEA task force officer, to inform him he had cocaine.1 At the officer’s direction, Cameron went to meet Basley on Clapier Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Basley invited Cameron into his Chevy Avalanche and showed him five kilos of cocaine, wrapped in tan tape, inside a black duffle bag. Bas-ley told Cameron that he planned to give two kilos to his brother. Subsequently, Cameron reported what transpired and the DEA task force set up surveillance at two locations: (1) Clapier Street and Wayne Avenue, and (2) on 5343 Darrah Street in Philadelphia, where Basley had been seen during a previous surveillance.

Officer Sarris surveyed 5343 Darrah Street. At around 3:00 p.m. on July 8, 2005, he saw Basley and another male arrive in an Avalanche. Basley was holding a black duffle bag in his right hand. Basley used a key to open the door to 5343 Darrah Street, and then, still holding the duffle bag, he and the other male went inside. Basley was inside the house for a little over two hours, during which a woman and three men arrived separately. All four knocked to gain entrance. Officer Sarris testified that he saw Basley leave, accompanied by two men. Officer Sarris admitted that no attempt was made to determine the identity of the other subjects. Then, several officers entered the premises to execute a search warrant.

The house at 5343 Darrah Street has a basement, a main floor with a combination living room/dining room area and a kitchen, and a second floor with two bedrooms. Officer Rehr searched the basement and recovered a black duffle bag, which Cameron and Officer Sarris identified as Bas-ley’s. Inside there was one kilo of cocaine wrapped in tan tape, and one large Ziploc bag which contained five smaller bags, each containing 125 grams of cocaine.2 An officer recovered three empty tan wrappers from the basement garbage can and Cameron identified photos of those wrappers as the same wrapping he saw on the kilos in the black duffle bag.

Office Sarris searched the stairwell area leading to the basement. Just inside the doorway of the stairwell he found a box of baking power, two digital gram scales with drug residue, a learner’s permit for Basley,3 and other drug paraphernalia. Another officer found a bag near the staircase containing various drug paraphernalia, as well as two smaller bags of what was later determined to be 107 grams of cocaine base (crack).4

Office Sarris also searched the living room/dining room area and found various documents and photographs of Basley’s, including, among other things: (1) a photograph of Basley and Wright, (2) a letter addressed to Basley with tally work on the back, (3) a receipt with Basley’s name on it, (4) an envelope addressed to Basley, (5) a personal card addressed to Basley, (6) an auto-insurance policy for Basley addressed [458]*458to 5343 Darrah Street, and (7) an envelope from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation addressed to Edward Bas-ley. A DEA officer found a nine-millimeter Beretta with a round in the chamber and obliterated serial numbers under baby clothes in a red wicker basket. The basket was on the floor in a seating area near the kitchen table. There were no fingerprints on the gun or magazine. Senior Narcotics Agent John Cohen testified, as an expert witness, that it was consistent with his experience that drug dealers kept loaded firearms in their homes to protect themselves and their drug enterprise. He conceded a “sloppy” person might also keep a loaded gun in the house.

Officer Arnold searched the upstairs bedrooms. In the front bedroom, Officer Arnold found items on a dresser including: (1) a Pennsylvania identification card with Basley’s name and address on it, (2) two men’s watches, (3) a chain with a large diamond-encrusted “B” on it, (4) a Com-cast bill for 5343 Darrah Street in Basley’s name, (5) a Visa card in Basley’s name, (6) Basley’s social security card, (7) an application for a Visa card in Basley’s name, (8) a letter regarding a Mastercard addressed to Basley at Clapier Street, and (9) a handwritten note addressed to “B.” In a dresser drawer, the officer found a loaded Glock Model 3045 semi-automatic handgun and an extended magazine. Men’s T-shirts were in the dresser drawer with the gun. No fingerprints were recovered from the Glock or the magazine.5

Basley was arrested on November 7, 2004 when police officers pulled him over in the Avalanche. Officers conducted an inventory search and discovered a stolen, loaded Taurus pistol6 and a small quantity of narcotics in the cup holder.

On February 12, 2007, Basley and seven co-defendants went to trial facing a twenty-one count Superseding Indictment for drug and gun charges.7 Basley was named in seven counts: Counts Two and Four charged Basley with cocaine distribution in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C); Count Five charged Basley with possession with intent to distribute cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A); Count Six charged Basley with possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
357 F. App'x 455, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-basley-ca3-2009.