United States v. Francis Weekly, Also Known as Frank, Also Known as Beverly, United States of America v. Ken Braddock, United States of America v. Donna Romero

118 F.3d 576
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedJuly 29, 1997
Docket96-1513
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 118 F.3d 576 (United States v. Francis Weekly, Also Known as Frank, Also Known as Beverly, United States of America v. Ken Braddock, United States of America v. Donna Romero) 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. Francis Weekly, Also Known as Frank, Also Known as Beverly, United States of America v. Ken Braddock, United States of America v. Donna Romero, 118 F.3d 576 (8th Cir. 1997).

Opinion

118 F.3d 576

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Francis WEEKLY, also known as Frank, also known as Beverly,
Defendant-Appellant.
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Ken BRADDOCK, Defendant-Appellant.
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Donna ROMERO, Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 96-1513, 96-1516, 96-1532.

United States Court of Appeals,
Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Sept. 11, 1996.
Decided May 23, 1997.
Rehearing Denied in No. 96-1516 July 29, 1997.
Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc Denied in Nos. 96
-1513, 96-1532 July 29, 1997.*

JoAnn Trog, Clayton, argued, for Francis Weekly.

J. Justin Meehan, St. Louis, argued, for Ken Braddock.

Jane C. Hogan, St. Louis, argued, for Donna Romero.

Kenneth R. Tihen, Assistant U.S. Attorney, St. Louis, argued, for U.S.

Before BOWMAN, BRIGHT, and JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judges.

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

Francis Weekly, Ken Braddock, and Donna Romero pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute and/or possess with the intent to distribute heroin and cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (1994). Braddock and Weekly appeal their sentences, attacking the quantity of heroin on which the district court based their sentences. Romero also appeals her sentence, arguing that the district court erred in denying her the benefit of the safety valve provision of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) (1994) and U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2 (1995), and in allowing hearsay testimony at her sentencing hearing.

We affirm the sentences.1

Because the issues raised in this appeal are limited to issues of sentencing, we need not discuss in detail the facts giving rise to the charges and guilty pleas. Suffice it to say, on December 22, 1994, Weekly, Braddock, and Romero, along with eighteen other individuals, were charged in a thirteen-count indictment with various drug offenses. The offenses involved a cocaine and heroin ring in St. Louis, Missouri, headed by Lamond Sykes. Of the twenty-one individuals named in the indictment, all but six had entered guilty pleas by the time we heard these appeals.

I.

Braddock and Weekly pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute an unspecified amount of heroin and cocaine. The presentence report attributed twenty-eight kilograms of heroin and 595.35 grams of cocaine to them both. They objected to the quantity determination, and the district court conducted sentencing hearings. Following the hearings, the district court found that Braddock and Weekly should be sentenced based on the amounts contained in the presentence reports. The court then sentenced Weekly to 188 months imprisonment, and Braddock to 210 months imprisonment.

The district court determines the quantity of drugs involved in the conspiracy which is attributable to each defendant. See United States v. Flores, 73 F.3d 826, 833 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 2568, 135 L.Ed.2d 1084 (1996). The quantity determination is a finding of fact that we will only reverse for clear error. See United States v. Alexander, 982 F.2d 262, 267 (8th Cir.1992), cert. denied, 512 U.S. 1244, 114 S.Ct. 2761, 129 L.Ed.2d 876 (1994). A defendant convicted of conspiracy can be accountable for drug quantities implicated in the conspiracy that are reasonably foreseeable to him. See United States v. Montanye, 996 F.2d 190, 192 (8th Cir.1993) (en banc) (citing U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3(a)(1)(B)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 318, 136 L.Ed.2d 233 (1996). The district court may base a defendant's sentence on drugs attributed to his co-conspirators if it finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the co-conspirators' activities were in furtherance of the conspiracy and were either known to the defendant or were reasonably foreseeable to him. See United States v. Rogers, 982 F.2d 1241, 1246 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 509 U.S. 912, 113 S.Ct. 3017, 125 L.Ed.2d 706 (1993). Relevant to the determination of reasonable foreseeability is whether and to what extent the defendant benefitted from his co-conspirator's activities, and whether the defendant demonstrated a substantial level of commitment to the conspiracy. See United States v. Rice, 49 F.3d 378, 382-83 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1168, 115 S.Ct. 2630, 132 L.Ed.2d 870 (1995).

Braddock and Weekly argue that the district court clearly erred in finding them responsible for the entire amount of heroin attributed to the conspiracy (twenty-eight kilograms) because the entire amount was not reasonably foreseeable to them. See United States v. Smith, 13 F.3d 860, 867 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1134, 114 S.Ct. 2151, 128 L.Ed.2d 877 (1994) ("A conviction for conspiracy does not automatically mean that every conspirator has foreseen the total quantity of drugs involved in the entire conspiracy.") They contend that the district court relied on very general evidence to establish their involvement in the conspiracy, and that the district court should have sentenced them on the basis of a quantity determination of less than ten kilograms. See U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c) (Nov.1995).

In addition, Weekly contends that there was no independent testimony of the scope of his involvement in the conspiracy, only the hearsay testimony of DEA Special Agent Donald Mendrala. Weekly does not dispute that he was part of the conspiracy, but refutes the suggestion that he broke down heroin, complaining that there is no physical evidence indicating he was involved in this aspect of the conspiracy. He further complains that although Mendrala referred to conversations elicited from wiretaps and interviews with co-defendants, the government failed to introduce evidence of the wiretap transcripts, notes of Mendrala's interviews of co-defendants, or any other witnesses corroborating Mendrala's testimony. Braddock raises similar complaints and specifically objects to the government's failure to provide Mendrala's notes of his conversations with co-defendants.

The district court did not clearly err in finding Braddock and Weekly responsible for the entire amount of the heroin attributable to the conspiracy. Weekly stipulated that he was part of the charged conspiracy that began in the fall of 1991. He further stipulated that he assisted in the distribution of heroin to primary distributors, communicated with Sykes about the distribution, and received compensation for his role in the conspiracy.

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