United States v. Stephen G. Koonce

945 F.2d 1145, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 22170, 1991 WL 183989
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 23, 1991
Docket90-4081
StatusPublished
Cited by53 cases

This text of 945 F.2d 1145 (United States v. Stephen G. Koonce) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Stephen G. Koonce, 945 F.2d 1145, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 22170, 1991 WL 183989 (10th Cir. 1991).

Opinion

EBEL, Circuit Judge.

This case presents two issues. First, we must decide whether the Double Jeopardy Clause (U.S. Const, amend. Y), prohibits the conviction and imposition of a sentence for possession of a controlled substance where the same possession was used in a prior narcotics proceeding to increase the defendant’s sentence under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. We hold that the Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits the subsequent conviction and sentence. Second, we must decide whether the Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits the imposition of a sentence for being a felon in possession of firearms where possession of the same firearms during commission of a narcotics offense was used to enhance the defendant’s sentence in a prior narcotics proceeding under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. We hold that the Double Jeopardy Clause does not preclude this subsequent conviction and sentence.

FACTS

The defendant-appellant, Stephen Koonce, ran a methamphetamine distribution operation out of his Monticello, Utah residence. In late 1987, one of Koonce’s customers, Darryl Petschen, pled guilty to charges of illegally distributing methamphetamine. Petschen named Koonce as his supplier and offered to help South Dakota and Minnesota authorities apprehend Koonce. Petschen made a series of tape recorded telephone calls to Koonce in Monticello requesting that Koonce sell him methamphetamine. Petschen then sent a letter to Koonce requesting that a quantity of methamphetamine be mailed to a designated post office box in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

A package containing 443 grams of methamphetamine arrived at the post office box on February 4, 1988. Koonce’s fingerprints were found on the outer wrappings of the package. Shortly thereafter, law enforcement officials obtained a warrant to search Koonce’s residence. The authorities executed the warrant and discovered Petschen’s letter to Koonce, a large number of firearms, and an additional 963 grams of methamphetamine stored in Koonee’s freezer.

Koonce was charged in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota with one count of distributing an unspecified amount of methamphetamine under 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846 (1988). 1 The jury found Koonce guilty of distributing the 443 grams he had mailed to the Sioux Falls post office box. However, when the district court calculated his sentence under the United States Sentencing Guidelines, it took into account two additional quantities of methamphetamines: (1) the 963 grams discovered in his house in Monticello, and (2) 6,463 grams Petschen testified he had purchased from Koonce *1148 during the year prior to Koonce’s arrest. 2 Thus, Koonce’s South Dakota sentence was based upon his distributing a total of 7,869 grams of methamphetamine. The court calculated Koonce’s initial offense level as 34 under U.S.S.G. § 2Dl.l(a)(8) (1988) by referencing a total weight of 15,738 grams of cocaine. 3 After adding a two level enhancement for possessing firearms during the commission of the offense and calculating Koonce’s criminal history as a level III, the South Dakota district court found that the appropriate sentencing range under the Guidelines was 235 to 293 months. The district court sentenced him to 240 months imprisonment, the statutory maximum under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b). In addition, the court sentenced Koonce to serve five years of supervised release following the completion of his twenty-year prison term. Finally, the court fined Koonce $50,000. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Koonce’s conviction and sentence on appeal. United States v. Koonce, 884 F.2d 349 (8th Cir.1989) (Koonce I).

The United States then decided to charge and prosecute Koonce in the United States District Court for the District of Utah for possession with intent to distribute the 963 grams of methamphetamine found at his Monticello residence under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a). In addition, Koonce was charged with being a felon in possession of numerous firearms under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). Koonce immediately objected, arguing that the Double Jeopardy Clause protected him from being tried in the Utah district court for distributing the 963 grams of methamphetamine and for possessing the firearms. The district court refused to dismiss the indictment against him, and we affirmed. United States v. Koonce, 885 F.2d 720, 722 (10th Cir.1989) (Koonce II). We held that because Koonce had not been charged in South Dakota for any crime stemming from the 963 grams of methamphetamine discovered in his Monticello residence, or for possessing the firearms, the Double Jeopardy Clause’s ban against multiple prosecutions was not implicated. Id. Further, we agreed with the government that because Koonce had not yet been found guilty of the Utah offense—let alone punished—his claim based upon the Double Jeopardy Clause’s ban against multiple punishments was not yet ripe for review. Id. The case was remanded back to the district court for trial.

The Utah district court found Koonce guilty on the methamphetamine possession charge as well as on the felon in possession of a firearm charge. On the methamphetamine count, the district court sentenced him to a term of ninety-seven months to be served concurrently with his South Dakota sentence. On the firearms charge, the court sentenced Koonce to a twelve month concurrent sentence. In addition, Koonce was sentenced to six years of supervised release to run concurrently with the five years of supervised release already imposed by the South Dakota court. At the time of sentencing, Koonce again raised his Double Jeopardy claims. The district court again dismissed this claim, and Koonce appealed. The issue being ripe for review, Koonce’s appeal is before us a second time.

DISCUSSION

There are two components of the Double Jeopardy Clause: the first protects against a subsequent prosecution for the same offense after either an acquittal or a conviction (the prosecution component), while the second protects against multiple punishments for the same offense (the punishment component). See Grady v. Corbin, 495 U.S. 508, 110 S.Ct. 2084, 2090, 109 L.Ed.2d 548 (1990). Koonce’s Double Jeopardy claim pertaining to the methamphetamine distribution charge implicates the *1149 punishment component of the Clause 4 and will be addressed in Part I of this opinion.

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Bluebook (online)
945 F.2d 1145, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 22170, 1991 WL 183989, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-stephen-g-koonce-ca10-1991.