United States v. Marcus Lavale Lucas

282 F.3d 414, 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 3080, 2002 WL 276601
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 28, 2002
Docket99-6718
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 282 F.3d 414 (United States v. Marcus Lavale Lucas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Marcus Lavale Lucas, 282 F.3d 414, 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 3080, 2002 WL 276601 (6th Cir. 2002).

Opinions

[417]*417OPINION

GILMAN, Circuit Judge.

Marcus Lavale Lucas pled guilty to attempting to distribute cocaine base (crack cocaine) and conspiring to commit that offense, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), 21 U.S.C. § 846, and 18 U.S.C. § 2. The district court sentenced Lucas to 210 months in prison and a five-year term of supervised release. Lucas now appeals, arguing that (1) his guilty plea was involuntarily and unknowingly made, (2) his sentence is in violation of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), (3) the district court erred in calculating the quantity of drugs attributable to him, and (4) the district court erred in enhancing his sentence for possession of a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking offense. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the district court’s judgment of conviction, but REVERSE and REMAND the case for resentencing consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual background

On March 30, 1999, Lucas had a telephone conversation with his friend Brian Horton, who was planning to drive from Chicago, Illinois to Lucas’s home in Louisville, Kentucky. Lucas asked Horton if he would bring Lucas a package, telling Horton when and where the package would be delivered. Horton agreed. At the meeting place in Chicago, an allegedly unknown person gave Horton some papers, which he had expected to receive, and a blue plastic bag, which Horton agreed to take to Lucas in exchange for $500. Horton placed the papers in the car’s passenger seat and concealed the plastic bag in the lining of the trunk’s interior.

While driving to Louisville, Horton was stopped for speeding by an Indiana state trooper. Horton consented to a search of his car. The trooper discovered the plastic bag, which contained 595.8 grams of crack cocaine divided into five smaller bags, in the trunk’s lining. ■

In exchange for a reduction in his potential sentence, Horton agreed to cooperate with the authorities. Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Indiana state police placed a substitute package consisting of 54.2 grams of crack cocaine and soap shavings on top of the spare tire in Horton’s trunk. When Horton arrived in Louisville, he drove his car to a shopping center parking lot, where one of its tires was flattened. Horton then called Lucas and told him that he needed a jack to change the tire. Lucas agreed to assist him.

Lucas and his codefendant, David Baker, went to the parking lot to meet Horton. The three men discussed the flat tire, and then proceeded to the rear of the vehicle, where the trunk was already open. Once Lucas and Baker reached the trunk, the police arrested them. Neither man had taken possession of the drugs prior to their arrest, but Lucas had untucked his shirt so that, according to the government, he would be able to conceal the drugs when he removed them from the trunk.

After the arrest, the police found a loaded .38 caliber firearm in the glove compartment of the car that Lucas had driven. The police also searched Lucas’s apartment pursuant to a properly authorized search warrant. They found digital scales, six hundred plastic baggies with their corners cut out, and $1,870 in cash.

B. Procedural background

Lucas pled guilty on July 19, 1999. At his guilty plea hearing, the district court informed Lucas that he faced a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years and a max[418]*418imum sentence of life imprisonment for the counts to which he was pleading guilty. Lucas’s indictment, however, did not state the quantity of drugs allegedly attributable to him. In his guilty plea colloquy, moreover, Lucas disputed the quantity of crack cocaine for which the government sought to hold him accountable. He argued that he should not be held responsible for either 595.8 grams, the amount that was originally placed in the plastic bags, or 54.2 grams, the amount that was actually in the trunk of Horton’s car when Lucas was arrested. Instead, he claimed that he was responsible for only one ounce of crack cocaine, the amount that he allegedly intended to purchase with the $1,870 that was found in his apartment.

The Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) recommended that Lucas be held accountable for the entire 595.8 grams of crack cocaine, giving him a base offense level of 36 for purposes of the United States Sentencing Guidelines. In addition, the PSR added a two-level sentencing enhancement under § 2Dl.l(b) of the United States Sentencing Guidelines for possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking offense, resulting in an adjusted offense level of 38. Lucas then received a three-level downward adjustment under § 3E1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines for acceptance of responsibility. The PSR combined this adjusted offense level of 35 with Lucas’s criminal history category of III, and recommended a sentence of imprisonment within the guidelines range of 210-262 months, followed by a period of supervised release of at least five years.

On December 10, 1999, the district court conducted a sentencing hearing. Lucas objected to the quantity of drugs for which the PSR held him accountable and to the firearms enhancement. With regard to the quantity of drugs, the government presented the evidence discovered in the search of Lucas’s apartment. In addition, the police testified that plastic baggy corners are often used to sell drugs such as crack cocaine and marijuana. The police acknowledged that $1,870 would buy only one to one-and-one-half ounces of crack cocaine at the going rate, but the government presented testimony that drug dealers often work on consignment. With regard to the firearm enhancement, no evidence was presented concerning the ownership of the gun or the vehicle, and no fingerprints had been lifted from the gun.

After hearing evidence regarding the quantity of drugs involved in this case, the district court concluded that Lucas was responsible for the 595.8 grams of crack cocaine that were originally placed in the trunk of Horton’s car. It proceeded to overrule both of Lucas’s objections to the PSR. The district court then sentenced Lucas to 210 months in prison and a five-year term of supervised release. This appeal followed.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Validity of Lucas’s guilty plea

Lucas’s first argument on appeal is that his guilty plea was not valid because the district court provided erroneous information regarding his potential sentence at the guilty plea hearing. According to Lucas, the district court violated Rule 11(c)(1) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which requires the judge to “inform the defendant of ... the mandatory minimum penalty provided by law, if any, and the maximum possible penalty provided by law_” Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(1).

A guilty plea is valid only “if it is entered intelligently and voluntarily.” United States v.

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United States v. Marcus Lavale Lucas
282 F.3d 414 (Sixth Circuit, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
282 F.3d 414, 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 3080, 2002 WL 276601, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-marcus-lavale-lucas-ca6-2002.