United States v. Robert L. Cagle

922 F.2d 404, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 207, 1991 WL 1062
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedJanuary 9, 1991
Docket90-1956
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 922 F.2d 404 (United States v. Robert L. Cagle) 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. Robert L. Cagle, 922 F.2d 404, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 207, 1991 WL 1062 (7th Cir. 1991).

Opinion

FLAUM, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted defendant Robert Cagle of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846, and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of § 841(a)(1). The district court sentenced Cagle to two concurrent 96 month terms of imprisonment pursuant to the Sentencing Guidelines. On appeal Cagle raises various challenges to his sentence. We affirm the sentence imposed by the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

On September 19, 1988, an informant purchased one-half ounce of cocaine from Del McClinton at Cagle’s residence on 2325A North 20th Street in Milwaukee. Two days later the informant again attempted to purchase cocaine at Cagle’s residence, but was sent instead to 2373 North 15th Street, where he purchased another one-half ounce. The next day agents of the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigations, obtained a warrant to search Cagle’s residence. The agents arrested Cagle and four others. A search of Cagle revealed two one-ounce packages of cocaine in his pockets. Upstairs in Cagle’s bedroom, the agents discovered a gym bag with Cagle’s name and address on it containing 27.628 grams of cocaine, a gun holster containing a bag with 8.036 grams of cocaine, an electronic scale, and two handguns. In a dresser *406 drawer of the bedroom the agents found a ledger reflecting drug transactions. In a subsequent search of the 15th Street residence, the agents seized approximately 628 grams of cocaine. After further investigation, the agents discovered that Cagle, a high school janitor, owned seven beepers which had logged over 11,000 telephone calls in nine months.

On December 13, 1989, a grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Ca-gle. Count I charged a conspiracy which lasted from January to September 1988 to possess with intent to distribute in excess of 500 grams of cocaine in violation of sections 841(a)(1) and 846. Count II charged Cagle with possession with intent to distribute the 628 grams of cocaine found at the 15th Street residence in violation of section 841(a)(1). Count III charged him with possession with intent to distribute approximately three ounces of cocaine found at Cagle’s residence in violation of section 841(a)(1). Cagle’s defense at trial was that he had started drug-dealing on the day that he was arrested and was not involved in the conspiracy. The jury returned guilty verdicts on Counts I and III, but found Cagle not guilty on Count II.

A pre-sentence report recommended that the district court find the total amount of cocaine involved in the conspiracy to be five kilograms. The basis for this amount was the expert testimony of Special Agent William Hehr of the Drug Enforcement Administration regarding the ledger found in Cagle’s bedroom. According to Agent Hehr, this notebook detailed the distribution of more than 75 ounce-sized quantities of cocaine and hundreds of gram quantity distributions. He also stated that four pages contained an “N” and a number which denoted the inventory of a kilogram of cocaine. At the sentencing hearing, Ca-gle countered that the total amount of cocaine he had conspired to possess and distribute was the three ounces that the agents discovered at his residence. He based this argument on the fact that the jury had acquitted him of possessing the 628 grams found at the 15th Street residence.

During a recess in the sentencing hearing, the district court asked the court reporter to read him Agent Hehr’s trial testimony. Back in session, the court found that the ledger documented transactions involving approximately three kilograms of cocaine. Based on this determination, the district court identified 28 as the appropriate offense level. When added to Cagle’s criminal history category of I, the offense level of 28 called for a sentencing range of between 78 and 97 months. Judge Curran sentenced Cagle near the upper end of this range by imposing concurrent 96 month prison terms on each count.

II. ANALYSIS

1. Quantity of Cocaine

Cagle challenges the district court’s factual determination concerning how much cocaine was involved in the charged conspiracy. He argues that the district court should not have relied on the testimony of Agent Hehr as to the amount of cocaine listed in the notebook because the ledger was not in Cagle’s use or control and that the amounts of cocaine that Agent Hehr extrapolated from the ledger were incorrect. Further he contends, as he did at sentencing, that his involvement in the conspiracy included only the three grams found at his residence because the jury acquitted him of possessing the six hundred grams found at the 15th Street house.

Sentencing decisions of the district court, including those concerning the total amount of drugs involved in a conspiracy, are reviewed deferentially, and the court’s findings of fact will not be disturbed unless clearly erroneous. United States v. Franco, 909 F.2d 1042, 1045 (7th Cir.1990). When examining findings under the clearly erroneous standard, an appellate court may reverse only when “ ‘on the entire evidence [it] is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.’ ” Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 573, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 1511, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985) (quoting United States v. United States Gypsum Co., 333 U.S. 364, 395, 68 S.Ct. 525, 542, 92 L.Ed. 746 (1948)).

*407 U.S.S.G. § 2D1.4 provides that “[i]f a defendant is convicted of a conspiracy or an attempt to commit any offense involving a controlled substance, the offense level shall be the same as if the object of the conspiracy or attempt had been completed.” The commentary to § 2D1.4 provides that “[i]f the defendant is convicted of conspiracy that includes transactions in controlled substances in addition to those that are the subject of the substantive counts of conviction, each conspiracy transaction shall be included with those of the substantive counts of conviction to determine scale.” U.S.S.G. § 2D1.4, comment 1. Further, the commentary permits the approximation of unseized quantities of drugs. District courts may consider the market price of the drug, financial or other records, similar transactions in controlled substances by the defendant, and the size or capacity of any drug manufacturing laboratory involved. U.S.S.G. § 2D1.4, comment 2. This requirement supports the underlying goal that some evidence support the approximation. United States v. Lawrence, 915 F.2d 402, 408 (8th Cir.1990); see also United States v. McKeever, 906 F.2d 129

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Bluebook (online)
922 F.2d 404, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 207, 1991 WL 1062, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-robert-l-cagle-ca7-1991.