United States v. Sau Hung Yeung A/K/A Fuk Chao Hung

241 F.3d 321, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 2794, 2001 WL 185116
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedFebruary 26, 2001
Docket99-2040, 99-2048
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 241 F.3d 321 (United States v. Sau Hung Yeung A/K/A Fuk Chao Hung) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third 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. Sau Hung Yeung A/K/A Fuk Chao Hung, 241 F.3d 321, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 2794, 2001 WL 185116 (3d Cir. 2001).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

BARRY, Circuit Judge.

Sau Hung Yeung was convicted by a jury of conspiring to distribute heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, distribution of heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C), and distribution of heroin within 1000 feet of a school in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 860. Additionally, Yeung pleaded guilty to a separate indictment which charged hini with being a felon in possession of a weapon. The convictions were consolidated for purposes of sentencing and, on December 9, 1999, the District Court sentenced Yeung to concurrent terms of 97 months imprisonment. He now appeals, disputing only the amount of the heroin on which the District Court based his sentence. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a), and review for clear error the District Court’s factual findings as to the quantity of drugs. United States v. Paulino, 996 F.2d 1541, 1545 (3d Cir.1993). For the reasons which follow, we will vacate the sentence and remand for proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

Because the government has explicitly agreed with the Statement of Facts set forth in Yeung’s brief, we will replicate that recitation in full, deleting only the “Overview,” the footnotes, and the bulk of the citations to the appendix.

The Trial Evidence
[Daryl] Nguyen became a cooperating informant for the DEA after his own arrest for distribution of heroin in 1993. He pleaded guilty to those charges pursuant to an agreement that required him to cooperate with the DEA in order to obtain a reduced sentence. Nguyen (hereinafter “the informant”) was instructed by DEA agent John Foley to see if he could buy an ounce of heroin from Yeung, whom he knew as Fuk Chow Hung.
In the spring of 1994, the informant told Yeung, whom he had met half a year to a year earlier, that he was interested in buying heroin, and he asked for a sample. On May 11, 1994, Yeung called the informant and told him he had a sample. The informant met with Yeung and Zheng (whom he knew as Kwai Jai) at a gambling parlor in Philadelphia and told them he "was “interested in buying an ounce.” Yeung and Zheng, however, “said an ounce would not do” and- that “they would sell [the informant] half a unit or a unit.” Yeung said a unit would cost $70,000. No agreement was reached for any purchase, but Yeung did give the informant a very small sample of heroin wrapped in plastic, which the informant later gave to DEA agent John Foley. (The sample was so small that it was entirely used up during the DEA field test.)
The informant had occasional contact with Yeung and Zheng over the next several months, and on July 27, 1994, he received a page from Yeung. The informant returned the page and Yeung told him to come to a karaoke club at Tenth and Winter Streets to pick up another sample. The informant went to the karaoke club and met with Yeung and Zheng in a small VIP room. Again, the informant, who was under strict instructions from agent Foley to buy only one ounce, told Yeung and Zheng that he only wanted one ounce. Yeung said, “No can do,” and repeated that he would “only sell half a unit or a unit.” Yeung said the price for half a unit would be $40,000. Again, no agreement for the purchase of heroin was reached. Zheng gave the informant a sample (weighing [323]*3230.4 grams), and the informant left, later turning the sample over to agent Foley.
On July 29, 1994, the informant had a tape-recorded phone conversation with Yeung and Zheng in which the informant said, “Hey, it’s not — it’s not alright, only one orange is needed.” The phrase “one orange” meant one ounce. Zheng replied, “It’s not alright, but one orange will not work,” which meant that Zheng would not sell him an ounce. The informant replied, “Hey, it’s not all right with you over there. He doesn’t have that much with him. He only want one orange.” By this, the informant meant that his “connection doesn’t want the whole unit, he only needed an ounce.”
In August 1994, agent Foley gave the informant a “drug lord car” with hidden compartments for him to show to Yeung and Zheng in order to build credibility. On August 26, 1994, the informant (who was wearing a “body recorder”) showed the car to them, claiming that it belonged to the person he was buying drugs for — a “Hispanic guy.” He said that the Hispanic guy would take two units of heroin in another few weeks. Yeung told the informant to “talk to your side clearly and make sure of it,” meaning that he should talk with the Hispanic guy and “make sure he really wants it.” Again, no agreement was reached for the purchase of heroin at any quantity or for any price.
In September 1994, in an effort to obtain the telephone numbers Yeung and Zheng were calling, agent Foley gave the informant a cell phone and instructed him to sell it to Zheng for $100 as a “cloned” cell phone or illegal duplicate cell phone, that would supposedly be billed to some unsuspecting person. On September 26, 1994, the informant met with Zheng and sold him the phone. During their conversation, which was taped, the informant asked if Zheng could sell him two ounces. Zheng said he could not, and the “units” could not be “broken down” into ounces.
During the next several weeks, the informant continued to talk with Yeung and Zheng, and again told them, as per his instructions from agent Foley, that he just wanted to buy “an ounce” of heroin. Finally, in a taped conversation on October 17, 1994, Zheng agreed to sell him one ounce.
On October 18, 1994, the informant met »Zheng in Chinatown at about 1:30 p.m., and Zheng told him to wait for his phone call. The informant received a page later that day. He returned the page and spoke with Yeung, who told him to come and get the ounce of heroin at his restaurant at Broad and York. At 4:30 p.m., the informant drove up to the restaurant, where he saw Yeung and Zheng outside. He gave Zheng $5000 (provided by the DEA) and Zheng put an ounce of heroin on the floor of the informant’s van. The informant left and turned the heroin over to agent Foley.
The informant made no other purchases of heroin from Yeung and Zheng, and there were no negotiations or even discussions for any other purchases.

Appellant’s Br. at 4-8.

As noted above, Yeung complains only of the amount of heroin the District Court tarred him with at sentencing. Again, the government agrees with Yeung’s recitation of how that sentence came to be and, again, we replicate it in full:

The Sentencing
Defense counsel objected at sentencing to the base offense level in the pre-sentence report (“PSR”) on the ground that it was based on the one “unit” quantity of heroin, instead of the one ounce quantity actually sold.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Henry Baird
Third Circuit, 2021
United States v. Andrew Alexander
710 F. App'x 105 (Third Circuit, 2017)
United States v. Kurt Maxshure
579 F. App'x 136 (Third Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Gregory O'Neal
527 F. App'x 203 (Third Circuit, 2013)
United States v. Robert Williams
496 F. App'x 197 (Third Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Antoine Alicea
496 F. App'x 192 (Third Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Self
681 F.3d 190 (Third Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Crystal Brown
463 F. App'x 102 (Third Circuit, 2012)
United States v. James Whitted
436 F. App'x 102 (Third Circuit, 2011)
United States v. James Clark
419 F. App'x 248 (Third Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Davis
386 F. App'x 242 (Third Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Rasheed Jacobs
373 F. App'x 322 (Third Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Price
346 F. App'x 796 (Third Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Sosa
322 F. App'x 209 (Third Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Grass
238 F. App'x 826 (Third Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Colon
Third Circuit, 2007

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
241 F.3d 321, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 2794, 2001 WL 185116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-sau-hung-yeung-aka-fuk-chao-hung-ca3-2001.