United States v. Wright

19 F. App'x 230
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit·Decided August 28, 2001·No. No. 00-5623·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

ORDER

Jeremy Wright appeals his judgment of conviction and sentence entered on April 21, 2000. The parties have expressly waived oral argument. Upon examination, this panel unanimously agrees that oral argument is not needed. Fed. R.App. P. 34(a).

A federal jury found Wright guilty of conspiring to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute and to distribute it in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute it and aiding and abetting the same in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. The district court sentenced Wright to 120 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release.

In his timely appeal, Wright claims that: 1) insufficient evidence supports the jury’s verdict; 2) the district court incorrectly computed the drug quantity for sentencing purposes; 3) the district court improperly enhanced his sentence for possession of a firearm; 4) the district court erred in finding that the evidence established reckless endangerment during flight within the meaning of USSG § 3C1.2; 5) the district court erred in applying both the reckless endangerment enhancement and the official victim enhancement under USSG § 3A1.2(b); and 6) the district court erred in computing his criminal history category. The parties have filed briefs in which they expressly waive oral argument.

This court’s review for the sufficiency of trial evidence is limited. United States v. Morrow, 977 F.2d 222, 230 (6th Cir.1992). Generally, this court reviews the sufficiency of the evidence in challenged criminal convictions by considering all facts in the fight most favorable to the government, and then deciding if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); United States v. Elder, 90 F.3d 1110, 1120 (6th Cir.1996).

Upon review, we conclude that sufficient evidence supports Wright’s convictions. The essential elements of conspiracy under 21 U.S.C. § 846 are (1) an agreement by two or more persons to violate the drug laws, and (2) knowledge of, [232] intention to join, and participation in the conspiracy on the part of each conspirator. United States v. Maliszewski, 161 F.3d 992, 1006 (6th Cir.1998). To obtain a conviction under § 841(a)(1), the government must prove that the defendant knowingly and intentionally possessed a controlled substance with the intent to distribute it. United States v. Forrest, 17 F.3d 916, 919 (6th Cir.1994).

The jury heard sufficient evidence of a conspiracy to sell cocaine. A conspiracy conviction should not be disturbed unless there is insufficient evidence from which a rational jury member could find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was a member of a conspiracy. See United States v. Bourjaily, 781 F.2d 539, 544 (6th Cir.1986), aff'd, 483 U.S. 171, 107 S.Ct. 2775, 97 L.Ed.2d 144 (1987). The jury heard testimony that Wright and a man named Christopher Holley negotiated to sell a half kilogram (500 grams) of cocaine to a man who turned out to be an undercover police detective. The undercover police officer testified that the parties met at a parking lot to exchange the drugs for money. Thus, sufficient evidence supported Wright’s conspiracy conviction because there was at least tacit coordination among Wright and Holley in consummating the drug deal. See United States v. Ellzey, 874 F.2d 324, 328 (6th Cir.1989). At the parking lot, Wright insisted that the undercover officer get in his (Wright’s) vehicle to count the money and exchange the cocaine. Wright even showed the cocaine to the undercover officer. The officer’s testimony supports Wright’s possession with intent to distribute conviction. See United States v. Gibbs, 182 F.3d 408, 424 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1051, 120 S.Ct. 592, 145 L.Ed.2d 492 (1999).

The district court properly determined the quantity of drugs involved in the offenses. Generally, a district court’s findings of fact concerning the amount of drugs attributable to a defendant must be accepted by this court unless clearly erroneous. United States v. Ward, 68 F.3d 146, 149 (6th Cir.1995). The district court must approximate the quantity of drugs when there is no seizure, or the amount seized does not reflect the scale of the offense. See USSG § 2D1.1, comment. (n.12). In doing so, the court may estimate that the amount is within a specified range. Elder, 90 F.3d at 1127. An approximation is particularly called-for where, as here, the defendant threw the drugs from his car during a high-speed chase. See United States v. Angulo, 927 F.2d 202, 205 (5th Cir.1991).

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United States v. Wright, 19 F. App'x 230 (6th Cir. 2001).

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