United States v. Qureshi

6 F. App'x 340
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 23, 2001
DocketNo. 99-3568
StatusPublished

This text of 6 F. App'x 340 (United States v. Qureshi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh 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. Qureshi, 6 F. App'x 340 (7th Cir. 2001).

Opinion

ORDER

A jury found Sa Sadiq Qureshi guilty of possession with the intent to distribute heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and he was sentenced to 125 months’ imprisonment. Mr. Qureshi appealed, and, after receiving counsel’s merits brief, we granted Mr. Qureshi permission to file a pro se supplement to counsel’s brief and a pro se reply brief. We affirm Mr. Qureshi’s conviction and sentence.

[342]*342I. Background

An undercover agent posing as a drug seller initiated contact with Mr. Qureshi as part of a federal drug investigation. During several conversations with the agent, Mr. Qureshi discussed his prior drug dealing overseas and the various contacts who helped facilitate his drug transactions. Initially the negotiations focused on Mr. Qureshi buying two kilograms of heroin from the agent for $70,000 to $85,000, but eventually Mr. Qureshi agreed to buy one kilogram. Mr. Qureshi, however, insisted on first receiving a five-gram sample so that, he said, his distributors could test the quality. Mr. Qureshi met the undercover agent at a hotel and accepted the sample, and at that time Mr. Qureshi explained in detail how he wanted the kilogram packaged. As he left the hotel room, Mr. Qureshi was arrested.

At trial the government introduced audio and video recordings of several meetings and phone conversations between Mr. Qureshi and the undercover agent. Mr. Qureshi raised an entrapment defense, and the district court instructed the jury on that defense. After a two-day trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict.

At sentencing the judge included as relevant conduct the one kilogram of heroin that Mr. Qureshi negotiated to buy from the agent. Mr. Qureshi objected, arguing that he never intended to follow through with the larger purchase. The judge determined that, based on the testimony and transcripts at trial, “it was clear ... that this was a two-way conversation and that Mr. Qureshi was taking part in a discussion of a transaction involving a kilogram.” The judge ultimately sentenced Mr. Qureshi to 125 months’ imprisonment.

II. Discussion

In this court, counsel makes a single argument: that under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), drug quantity should have been determined by the jury based upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Apprendi holds that any fact other than a prior conviction that “increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” Apprendi, 120 S.Ct. at 2362-63. With respect to drug quantity, we have determined that Apprendi applies only when the drug amount could trigger a sentence beyond the statutory maximum for the particular type of drug. United States v. Nance, 236 F.3d 820, 825 (7th Cir.2000). Mr. Qureshi was charged with possession of an unspecified amount of heroin, for which the statutory maximum is 20 years. 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C). Mr. Qureshi’s sentence falls below the 20-year statutory maximum, and, as we have said, “when a defendant is sentenced to a term of imprisonment within the statutory maximum for the crime of which he was convicted, ‘Apprendi is beside the point.’ ” United States v. Williams, 238 F.3d 871, 877 (7th Cir.2001)(quoting Talbott v. Indiana, 226 F.3d 866, 869 (7th Cir.2000),).

In his pro se supplemental brief, Mr. Qureshi raises several arguments concerning his entrapment defense. First, he contends that one cannot be convicted of possessing an illegal substance supplied by the government, but this argument is long foreclosed. See United States v. Duff, 551 F.2d 187, 188 (7th Cir.l977)(per curiam)(noting that this argument “does not constitute a valid theory of defense” in view of Hampton v. United States, 425 U.S. 484, 96 S.Ct. 1646, 48 L.Ed.2d 113 (1976)); see also United States v. Valona, 834 F.2d 1334, 1344 (7th Cir.1987) (citing Hampton and noting that “[i]t is clear that the government may supply drugs to a suspect in a drug investigation”).

[343]*343Mr. Qureshi next asserts that the evidence of predisposition was insufficient to defeat his entrapment defense. In making this argument, however, Mr. Qureshi bears a heavy burden. See United States v. Gardner, 238 F.3d 878, 879 (7th Cir. 2001). We will not weigh the evidence or revisit the jury’s credibility determinations, but rather will draw all reasonable inferences in the government’s favor. Id. The appropriate test is “whether, when the evidence is viewed in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id.

A jury must decide two issues when a defendant raises an entrapment defense: “(1) whether the government induced the defendant to commit the crime, and, if so, (2) whether the defendant was predisposed to commit the offense.” United States v. Higham, 98 F.3d 285, 290 (7th Cir.1996). Once a defendant establishes inducement, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was predisposed. See id. Where the government has provided sufficient evidence of the defendant’s predisposition, an entrapment defense is properly rejected without analysis of the inducement. United States v. Johnson, 32 F.3d 304, 308 (7th Cir.1994).

The government introduced much evidence of Mr. Qureshi’s predisposition to engage in drug transactions. In his conversations with the undercover agent, Mr. Qureshi acknowledged that he recognized the name of a drug dealer from Pakistan and admitted his prior drug transactions. See United States v. Theodosopoulos, 48 F.3d 1438, 1445-46 (7th Cir.1995)(considering defendant’s previous experiences and acquaintances in determining predisposition). Mr. Qureshi indicated his familiarity with the terminology of the drug trade when he discussed the quality of the heroin he wished to buy. See Johnson, 32 F.3d at 308 (defendant’s use of drug trade terminology in discussing the quantity and price of drugs was an indication of predisposition). And Mr. Qureshi exhibited a working knowledge of the drug business by discussing his previous use of couriers, by requesting an initial sample of the heroin he was to buy, and by testing the quality of the five-gram sample. See United States v. Perez-Leon, 757 F.2d 866, 872 (7th Cir.1985)(defendant indicated his sophistication in the drug business by asking for a sample of heroin).

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Related

Hampton v. United States
425 U.S. 484 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Apprendi v. New Jersey
530 U.S. 466 (Supreme Court, 2000)
United States v. Michael Duff
551 F.2d 187 (Seventh Circuit, 1977)
United States v. Rafael Perez-Leon & Juan Gonzalez
757 F.2d 866 (Seventh Circuit, 1985)
United States v. James J. Valona
834 F.2d 1334 (Seventh Circuit, 1987)
United States v. Alan Masters and James D. Keating
978 F.2d 281 (Seventh Circuit, 1992)
United States v. Willie Corbin, Jr.
998 F.2d 1377 (Seventh Circuit, 1993)
United States v. Benjamin G. Johnson
32 F.3d 304 (Seventh Circuit, 1994)
United States v. Rene Rodriguez
67 F.3d 1312 (Seventh Circuit, 1995)
United States v. Dennis King
75 F.3d 1217 (Seventh Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Maria Benitez
92 F.3d 528 (Seventh Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Burton Higham
98 F.3d 285 (Seventh Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Ramiro Magana
118 F.3d 1173 (Seventh Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Wilfredo Bonilla-Comacho
121 F.3d 287 (Seventh Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Roger D. Zehm
217 F.3d 506 (Seventh Circuit, 2000)
Richard Dale Talbott, Applicant v. State of Indiana
226 F.3d 866 (Seventh Circuit, 2000)
United States v. Kevin Wash, A/K/A Keke
231 F.3d 366 (Seventh Circuit, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
6 F. App'x 340, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-qureshi-ca7-2001.