United States v. Gilberto Arbelaez

812 F.2d 530, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 3172
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMarch 11, 1987
Docket85-1282
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 812 F.2d 530 (United States v. Gilberto Arbelaez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth 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. Gilberto Arbelaez, 812 F.2d 530, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 3172 (9th Cir. 1987).

Opinion

*532 PER CURIAM:

The district court denied Gilberto Arbelaez’s motion under Fed.R.Crim.P. 35 to modify the sentences imposed upon him after his conviction on Counts I, II, and III charging violations of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (“Drug Act”), 21 U.S.C. §§ 801-966. He appeals pro se. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Arbelaez was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to possess cocaine with, intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846 (Count I); aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (Count II); and aiding and abetting the possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (Count III). The court sentenced him to 15 years on each count, to run consecutively, and imposed a special parole term on Counts II and III for the balance of his natural life.

The facts of this case are recounted in United States v. Arbelaez, 719 F.2d 1453 (9th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1255, 104 S.Ct. 3543, 82 L.Ed.2d 847 (1984), in which Arbelaez’s convictions were affirmed on direct appeal. For purposes of this appeal, we need only relate the following facts. At a Miami hotel, Arbelaez supplied Alfonso Beron with three kilograms of cocaine. Beron then flew to Sacramento to sell them to customers. The following day Beron was arrested. At the time of his arrest, Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized two kilograms of cocaine. Id. at 1457.

We review the legality of a sentence de novo. United States v. Whitney, 785 F.2d 824, 825 (9th Cir.1986) (per curiam).

Arbelaez contends that United States v. Palafox, 764 F.2d 558 (9th Cir.1985) (en banc), prohibits the imposition of separate sentences for aiding and abetting distribution and aiding and abetting possession. After giving an undercover agent a small sample of heroin, Palafox was arrested. Subsequently convicted of both possession with intent to distribute and distribution, Palafox received separate sentences for each conviction. In Palafox we held “that where the defendant distributes a sample and retains the remainder for the purpose of making an immediate distribution to the same recipients at the same place and at the same time, verdicts of guilty may be returned on both counts but the defendant may be punished on only one.” Id. at 560.

By examining the legislative history of the Drug Act and analogizing it to the Federal Bank Robbery Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2113, which creates the dual offenses of entering a bank with the intent to rob it and bank robbery in itself, we determined that Congress did not intend to “ ‘pyramid the penalties’ ” by creating two separate offenses. Id. at 561 (quoting Prince v. United States, 352 U.S. 322, 327, 77 S.Ct. 403, 406, 1 L.Ed.2d 370 (1957)). We said “[tjhe general rule under § 841(a)(1) is, consistent with Prince, that where the defendant is convicted of multiple criminal steps leading to the same criminal undertaking, only one punishment should be imposed.” Id. at 563.

In United States v. Rodriguez-Ramirez, 777 F.2d 454 (9th Cir.1985), we affirmed the defendant’s separate convictions and punishments for possession and distribution where the defendant distributed a heroin sample on October 5th and was arrested for possession of the remainder on October 7th “[bjecause the distribution of the sample and the possession of the remainder did not occur ‘at the same time, in the same place, and with the involvement of the same participants.’” Id. at 457-58 (quoting Palafox, 764 F.2d at 563).

In United States v. Touw, 769 F.2d 571 (9th Cir.1985), we vacated the defendants’ sentences with instructions for resentencing on only one conviction where the defendants were convicted of both conspiracy to possess marijuana and attempted possession. Although defendants were shown marijuana by DEA agents on two occasions, they attempted to make a purchase only on the second showing. Citing Palafox for the proposition that Congress did not intend to punish a defendant more than *533 once for the same criminal undertaking, we held that defendants could be punished for only one count because they “engaged in a single act when they attempted to purchase marijuana from DEA agents.” Id. at 574.

Later, we vacated judgments of conviction and sentences in United States v. Wilson, 781 F.2d 1438 (9th Cir.1986) (per curiam). Wilson was convicted and sentenced for possession of piperidine (used to make PCP), manufacturing PCC (also used to make PCP) and attempting to manufacture PCP. The first two acts were steps in the defendant’s attempt to manufacture PCP. Relying on Palafox, we held that the defendant could only be sentenced for attempting to manufacture PCP because the three counts were “successive steps of one criminal undertaking.” Id. at 1440.

Recently, in United States v. McQuisten, 795 F.2d 858 (9th Cir.1986), we affirmed the imposition of separate sentences for convictions for both a conspiracy and an attempt to manufacture methamphetamine. After reviewing Palafox and its progeny, we said:

Here we do not have one transaction occurring at the same place and time and between the same participants as in Par lafox. Nor do we have merely successive steps in one criminal undertaking as in Wilson. Rather, we have several distinct criminal acts.

Id. at 868.

Here, Arbelaez’s single act

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812 F.2d 530, 1987 U.S. App. LEXIS 3172, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-gilberto-arbelaez-ca9-1987.