United States v. Oldham

13 F. App'x 221
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedApril 2, 2001
DocketNo. 99-5964, 99-5988
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 13 F. App'x 221 (United States v. Oldham) 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. Oldham, 13 F. App'x 221 (6th Cir. 2001).

Opinion

NATHANIEL R. JONES, Circuit Judge.

On February 2, 1999, Defendants-Appellants Tony Oldham and Melinda Old-ham pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and one count of aiding and abetting an attempt to manufacture methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and 18 U.S.C. § 2. On June 14, 1999, Tony and Melinda Oldham were sentenced. The Oldhams now appeal their sentences to this Court. For the reasons stated below, we AFFIRM the Oldhams’ sentences.

I. Facts

In winter of 1998, Randy Shelton showed Tony Oldham how to make methamphetamine. Having learned the process, Tony Oldham and his wife Melinda Oldham set out to make methamphetamine on their own. Since Melinda did not want to make the methamphetamine in then-new apartment, the Oldhams decided to ask Michael and Jennifer Daniel if they could use their trailer. On February 24, 1998, the Oldhams approached Jennifer Daniel. She told them that they could use the trailer if her husband consented. Later that day, Michael Daniel called the Oldhams and agreed to let them use the trailer in exchange for some of the methamphetamine that they produced.

Earlier that day, Melinda Oldham had purchased several items needed to manufacture methamphetamine and placed them in a green tupperware container. After receiving Michael Daniel’s call, the Oldhams brought these materials along with some others to the Daniels’ trailer. The Oldhams entered the trailer and proceeded to arrange the components. Tony Oldham placed a gallon jar with a mixture of ingredients on top of a kerosene heater in the bathroom of the trailer.

At this point, Melinda Oldham and Jennifer Daniel left the Daniels’ trailer to pick up some methamphetamine at Randy Shelton’s trailer. Shortly thereafter, Tony Oldham and Michael Daniel also left to steal some anhydrous ammonia so that they would have all of the chemicals necessary to produce methamphetamine. While the Oldhams and the Daniels were gone, the mixture that Tony Oldham had left on top of the kerosene heater exploded causing serious damage to the Daniels’ trailer.

A local police officer responded to the explosion and saw the evidence of drug manufacturing. He called a narcotics detective who later called the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”). After obtaining consent to search the trailer, a DEA agent found the components that had not been destroyed by the explosion. Scrapings taken from a wall and a door contained ephedrine, the principal ingredient in methamphetamine according to the process that Tony planned to use. Several [223]*223days later, the police searched the Old-hams’ apartment. They found a shopping list and a Wal-Mart receipt for some of the lab components that Melinda Oldham had bought.

The Oldhams eventually pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and one count of aiding and abetting an attempt to manufacture methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and 18 U.S.C. § 2. The district court sentenced Tony Oldham to 151 months of imprisonment, a four year period of supervised release, and to pay $10,000 in restitution. Melinda Oldham was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment, a four year term of supervised release, and to pay $10,000 in restitution. The Oldhams now appeal their sentences to this Court.

II. Amount of Drugs

In cases such as this one where no controlled substance is recovered, the Sentencing Guidelines instruct the district court to “approximate the quantity of controlled substance” by considering “for example ... the size or capability of any laboratory involved.” United States Sentencing Guidelines (“U.S.S.G.”) § 2D1 .1, comment (n. 12). Accordingly, the district court considered the testimony of DEA Agent Tony King and forensic chemist Robert Krefft in order to determine how much methamphetamine the Oldhams might have produced.

Tony King testified that 1000 tablets of pseudoephedrine typically yield anywhere from one-half ounce to one ounce of methamphetamine or fourteen to eighteen grams. Based on this ratio, King concluded that the 3800 tablets found in the Daniels’ trailer would yield 53.2 grams to 106.4 grams of methamphetamine.

Robert Krefft testified that the maximum theoretical yield that the Oldhams could have produced was 209.8 grams. He estimated that the Oldhams could have reasonably produced 50% of the maximum yield or 104 grams of methamphetamine given their equipment and level of experience. On cross examination he admitted that it would be possible to get a 10% yield if you were “very careless and in a big hurry and had no experience ...” (JA at 351.)

After weighing the evidence set forth by the two experts, the district court decided to accept Agent King’s estimate of 53.2 grams instead of Robert Krefft’s estimate of 104 grams because this case involved mandatory minimum sentences. We review the district court’s finding of the quantity of drugs that would have been manufactured for clear error. See United States v. Walker, 160 F.3d 1078, 1090 (6th Cir.1998).

On appeal, Tony and Melinda Oldham argue that the district court erred because it failed to err on the side of caution when determining the amount of methamphetamine that the Oldhams could have produced. Citing United States v. Flowal, 163 F.3d 956, 960 (6th Cir.1998), they argue that based on Robert Krefft’s admission that a “very careless” person who had “no experience” and “was in a big hurry” could have produced a 10% yield, the district court should have found that Tony Oldham would have only produced 10% of the maximum yield or 20.98 grams.

The Oldhams are correct that district courts should err on the side of caution when they estimate the amount of a drug that could have been manufactured. However, this standard does not require courts to stretch the evidence in order to arrive at the lowest possible estimate. Although it is true that Tony Oldham had never manufactured methamphetamine on his own and exhibited some carelessness [224]*224by placing a mixture of chemicals on a kerosene heater, these facts alone do not support the 20.98 gram estimate that the Oldhams advocate. As noted above, Robert Krefft’s 10% of maximum yield scenario was based on a person who had “no experience,” “was in a big hurry” and was “very careless.” This characterization does not describe Tony Oldham, who, although careless, did have some experience manufacturing methamphetamine and was not necessarily in a “big hurry.” Accordingly, the district court did not commit clear error when it found that the Oldhams could have produced 53.2 grams of methamphetamine.

III. Apprendi

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Bluebook (online)
13 F. App'x 221, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-oldham-ca6-2001.