United States v. Tankson

836 F.3d 873, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16668, 2016 WL 4728035
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 12, 2016
DocketNo. 14-3787
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 836 F.3d 873 (United States v. Tankson) 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. Tankson, 836 F.3d 873, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16668, 2016 WL 4728035 (7th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

Following an extensive sting operation by federal law enforcement of a drug distribution ring in Chicago, Charles Tankson was indicted on .three counts of distributing 100 grams of heroin and one count of distributing a detectable amount of heroin, both in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). He entered a written plea declaration' without a plea agreement. At sentencing, [876]*876the Government introduced Mr. Tankson’s post-arrest statement to authorities in order to establish significant additional drug quantities as relevant conduct. The district court credited the statement and, on the basis of the newly established drug quantities, both increased his offense level under the quantity table and determined that he was subject to the career offender guideline. The court calculated a guidelines range of 360 months to life but sentenced him below the applicable guidelines range to 228 months’ imprisonment. Mr. Tankson now appeals his sentence. He challenges the district court’s reliance on his post-arrest statement in determining his relevant conduct. He also contends that the court, in calculating his criminal history category, erred in including a 1995 conviction. We conclude that the district court was entitled to credit his statement and to consider the 1995 conviction. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I

BACKGROUND

A.

In 2012 and 2013, the FBI investigated a drug and gun trafficking operation headed by Walter Blackman, a member of the Black Disciples gang. Blackman’s operation distributed heroin, powder cocaine, and crack in an area on the far south side of Chicago. The FBI’s investigation employed confidential sources, controlled buys, wiretaps of Blackman’s phones, traditional surveillance, and other information to uncover the scope of Blackman’s activities and to identify the individuals involved in his network. In the course of this investigation, the FBI identified Mr. Tankson as Blackman’s heroin supplier. On four occasions between November 2012 and January 2013, the FBI became aware of transactions between Mr. Tankson and Blackman. Each involved at least 100 grams of heroin. The FBI intercepted calls arranging these purchases and surveilled or otherwise monitored the actual exchanges. On at least one occasion, Black-man resold the product to a confidential informant; subsequent testing confirmed the presence of heroin. In April 2013, Mr. Tankson was one of eighteen individuals arrested on charges related to Blackman’s operation.

Once in custody, Mr. Tankson waived, orally and in writing, his right to consult with an attorney under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). FBI Special Agents Ward Yoder and Joshua Rongitsch interviewed him on April 4, 2013. In the interview, he gave the agents significant details about his relationship with Blackman’s operation. The interview was not recorded, but was summarized by the agents in a report drafted the following day.

Mr. Tankson told the agents that he and Blackman had grown up together and that both were members of the Black Disciples gang. He admitted to participating in the four transactions ultimately charged in the indictment and indicated that three of them involved 100 grams of heroin and that the fourth involved 150 grams. When agents played the taped conversations for Mr. Tankson, he identified his voice and Blackman’s, explained code words, and described his transactions in detail. He identified a photo of heroin packaged and sold to Blackman. He also described his being stopped by law enforcement after a sale to Blackman in which the authorities had seized $3,500 in drug proceeds.

In addition to his statements about his relationship with and sales to Blackman, Mr. Tankson also gave statements about his own heroin suppliers and described more extensive trafficking activities. He stated that he had sold marijuana growing up, but began selling powder cocaine and [877]*877heroin after meeting “ ‘a Mexican man’ ” at an auto repair shop near 1-55 and Western Avenue in Chicago.1 Although he described the shop as three blocks south of 1-55 on Western, Mr. Tankson could not locate the shop on a map or provide any further detail. For a few months after their initial meeting, the “Mexican man” sold Mr. Tankson marijuana, and, when Mr. Tank-son earned his trust, began selling him powder cocaine. Mr. Tankson admitted to purchasing roughly 1.5 kilograms of powder cocaine from this supplier, until the supplier was robbed of proceeds and subsequently ceased dealing drugs. The supplier then introduced Mr. Tankson to a second supplier, again at'the auto repair shop.

Mr. Tankson met the second supplier only once. He described him as Mexican, short, thin, and with a short, black, military-style haircut. The two men communicated by T-mobile prepaid drop phones that were changed on a frequent basis at the supplier’s request. When Mr. Tankson wanted to make a purchase, he would call the supplier’s phone number and would be given a time and location for the buy. He recalled using a Mexican country code to place the calls, although he could not recall what the code was. He no longer had the phone with the second supplier’s number in his possession because he had ceased heroin dealing three months earlier, after the police stopped him and seized the $3,500. Mr. Tankson stated that he would only place an order for as much heroin as he could sell on a specific day because he did not want to store any additional product. He estimated that he placed 100 orders with this second supplier over two years, each for between 300 and 400 grams of heroin. He purchased the heroin at $6,500 per 100 grams, which he then resold at $8,000. The supplier changed couriers' often, but they were generally other Mexican men in their forties, driving minivans with car seats or plain work trucks. Mr. Tankson said that the buys occurred in vehicles by window-to-window transactions at the Ford City Mall in Cicero, Illinois. He stopped all trafficking activity in January 2013, after the police stopped him with the proceeds of a sale to Blackman.

B.

On May 2, 2013, Mr. Tankson was charged in a four-count indictment with distribution of heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1): three counts of distribution of 100 grams or more of heroin and one count of distribution of a detectable amount of heroin.

During his pretrial proceedings, Mr. Tankson filed a motion to suppress his post-arrest statement confessing to the charged offenses. He contended that he had not received adequate Miranda warnings and had not made many of the statements contained in the agents’ report. Indeed, he testified that, in his numerous arrests, he never had been advised of his Miranda rights by any law enforcement officer. He admitted trafficking marijuana, but denied involvement in heroin trafficking. The court held a hearing at which Mr. Tankson and the interviewing officer, Special Agent Ward Yoder, each testified. Following the hearing, the court denied the motion and made a specific finding that Agent Yoder had testified credibly and Mr. Tankson had testified falsely. Accordingly, it concluded that the Government had proved by a preponderance of the evidence that adequate warnings had been provided and that Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
836 F.3d 873, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16668, 2016 WL 4728035, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-tankson-ca7-2016.