Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca3-13-04449/USCOURTS-ca3-13-04449-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Jaquel Crews
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

NOT PRECEDENTIAL 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT 

__________ 

Nos. 13-3477 and 13-4449 

__________ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

v. 

MARK MILLER, a/k/a Sharkey 

 Mark Miller, 

 Appellant at No. 13-3477 

__________ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

 v. 

 JAQUEL CREWS, a/k/a Quelly 

 Jaquel Crews, 

 Appellant at No. 13-4449 

__________ 

On Appeal from the United States District Court 

for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania 

(D.C. Criminal Nos. 2-10-cr-00663-006 and 2-10-cr-00663-004) 

District Judge: Honorable John R. Padova 

Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) 

 September 9, 2015 

BEFORE: VANASKIE, NYGAARD, and RENDELL, Circuit Judges

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
2 

(Filed: April 1, 2016) 

__________ 

OPINION*

__________ 

NYGAARD, Circuit Judge. 

Introduction 

 Appellants Mark Miller and Jaquel Crews were convicted by a federal jury for 

their participation in a multimillion dollar drug organization that distributed hundreds of 

kilograms of cocaine and crack cocaine in Philadelphia’s Frankfort neighborhood for 

more than 20 years. They have appealed their convictions and sentences. We will 

affirm. 

Background 

 Because we write solely for the parties, we will provide only a brief outline of the 

factual background. Miller and Crews were veterans of the illegal drug trade. Testimony 

revealed that Miller had been selling cocaine at least since 1986, while Crews had been 

supplying drug dealers since 1996. Together, the Appellants laundered millions of 

dollars in drug proceeds through the purchase of real estate and other assets. Although 

neither Appellant was gainfully employed, they lived extravagantly, attending events like 

the Super Bowl and the MTV Video Music Award show. They also laundered drug 

proceeds through the purchase of luxury items like mink coats, Breitling watches, and 

 

* This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not 

constitute binding precedent.

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
3 

more than $100,000 in diamond jewelry. Both Miller and Crews routinely delivered 

money to a California-based cocaine supplier, flying between Philadelphia and Los 

Angeles and Philadelphia and Las Vegas on numerous occasions. The supplier, in turn, 

would provide Crews and other members of the conspiracy with cocaine.1

 After a ten-day trial, a jury convicted Crews and Miller of one count of conspiracy 

to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and fifty grams or more of crack cocaine 

between 1986 and November of 2007, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. Miller was also 

convicted of seven counts of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 

1956(a)(1)(A)(i) and 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i). Crews was found guilty of ten counts 

of money laundering in violation of the same aforementioned statutes. The Government 

filed forfeiture motions, seeking personal forfeiture money judgments against both 

Appellants in the amount of $5,000,000, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 853, which the District 

Court granted. At sentencing, the District Court imposed a 212-month prison sentence on 

Miller while Crews received a sentence of 240 months’ imprisonment. 

 We granted Miller’s motion to consolidate his appeal with Crews.’ Together, and 

in some instances individually, they raise numerous challenges to their convictions, 

sentences, and the District Court’s forfeiture order. We will discuss each issue in turn, 

beginning with the evidentiary claims. 

Exclusion of the Lofton Recordings 

 At trial, Crews and Miller attempted to introduce excerpts of telephone calls a 

Government witness, Craig Lofton, made from prison to various individuals on the 

 

1 App. 780-81a. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
4 

outside. One of several witnesses called by the Government, Lofton testified to his 

knowledge and participation in Miller and Crews’ drug trafficking schemes. The 

Appellants argued to the District Court that these excerpts would impeach Lofton by 

revealing incentives he had to lie on behalf of the Government. The District Court 

permitted Miller to use eight of the requested twelve excerpts. On appeal, Miller and 

Crews argue that the District Court abused its discretion by excluding the four remaining 

excerpted conversations from evidence.2

 

 At the outset, we reject the Appellants’ overarching contention that the District 

Court failed to articulate a legal basis for excluding these four excerpts from evidence. 

The record clearly reveals the foundation for the District Court’s ruling: Federal Rule of 

Evidence 608.3

 Under this rule, “extrinsic evidence is not admissible to prove specific 

instances of a witness’s conduct in order to attack or support the witness’s character for 

truthfulness.”4

 The District Court ruled these four excerpts to be extrinsic evidence and it 

did not abuse its discretion in doing so. 

 For example, the excerpt taken from a telephone conversation between Lofton and 

an unidentified woman during which Lofton discussed his belief that he and Crews were 

 

2 We review the District Court’s ruling as to the admissibility of evidence and its 

limitation on cross-examination for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Knight, 700 

F.3d 59, 62 (3d Cir. 2012); United States v. Mussare, 405 F.3d 161, 169 (3d Cir. 2005). 

3 The District Court asked counsel for Appellant Crews: “So that these conversations are 

conversations that were made outside the courtroom. They were made – they involve Mr. 

Lofton and other people, and the defendant Crews wants to use these conversations for 

impeachment – for credibility purposes under Rule 608(b), is that a fair statement?” 

Counsel for Crews responded “Fair enough.” App. at 1445a. 

4 Fed. R. Evid. 608(b). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 4 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
5 

coming “home in two years,”5

 is extrinsic because Lofton testified three years after 

making that statement. By that time, he could no longer have had the expectation he was 

going to be released in two years since three had already passed. Crews now argues that 

this excerpt should have been admitted nonetheless because it was contrary to Lofton’s 

testimony that he had not been given any promises or sentencing expectations by the 

Government. This argument misses the important point that, at trial, Lofton was 

questioned about his then-current sentencing expectations; not the expectations he had in 

2009 when this telephone conversation was recorded. Miller attacks this exclusion from 

a somewhat different angle, arguing it was admissible to prove Lofton expected to serve 

two years, not twenty-five. But, this excerpt is irrelevant to Miller’s argument. As we 

just noted, by the time he testified at trial, Lofton’s purported expectation of a two year 

sentence was already outmoded by a year, rendering his prior conversation about that 

expectation irrelevant. Therefore, the District Court did not abuse its broad discretion in 

evidentiary matters by ruling this excerpt out of bounds. 

 Likewise, the District Court did not abuse its discretion by excluding excerpts 

from a telephone conversation in which Lofton speaks of being suicidal. Here, Lofton 

was talking with another Government witness, Michael Durrant, in March of 2009. 

Lofton told Durrant that a ten-year sentence was “a long time,” and that “[a]nything 

underneath it, I’m extremely underneath that over it. I’m upset. I’m tore down. Suicide 

 

5 App. at 1666a. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 5 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
6 

material.”6

 The District Court found this particular excerpt to be extrinsic evidence of 

Lofton’s motivation for testifying, and we agree. Lofton had already testified that he did 

not have an expectation of a reduced sentence in exchange for his cooperation with the 

Government.7

 On appeal, Miller maintains that this excerpt was evidence of Lofton’s 

bias and that the District Court erred by preventing him from challenging Lofton. We see 

nothing in the record that supports his argument. Crews and Miller were unencumbered 

in their cross-examination of Lofton and questioned him in detail about his plea 

agreement and the possible sentence Lofton may have received had he not pleaded guilty. 

Further, Crews and Miller could certainly have recalled Lofton to question him about the 

other admitted excerpts, but elected not to do so. Therefore, we see no abuse of 

discretion in the exclusion of this excerpt from evidence. 

 Lastly, Miller and Crews argue that two excerpts from a conversation Lofton had 

with an agent from the Drug Enforcement Agency should have been admitted into 

evidence. These excerpts are part of a conversation between Lofton and a DEA agent 

concerning plans to take Lofton to meet with Government lawyers prior to his grand jury 

testimony. In the first excerpt, after clarifying where Lofton was being held, the agent 

inquired whether Lofton would like “a nice sit down dinner” when they picked him up.8

 

 

6 App. at 1668a. 

7 App. at 1455a. 

8 App. at 1668a. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 6 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
7 

Lofton thought that would be “lovely.”9

 In the second excerpt, Lofton tells the agent 

“Yeah man, its three people that pretty much gonna walk through this thing. You know 

what I mean. You know them all. I can’t call em out, but you know who they are. One 

of ‘em already walked through the water look the devil in the face. An he’s up on the 

west side. Everybody can’t get a break but I make sure I protected them.”10 At trial, 

counsel for Miller and Crews tried to admit these excerpted conversations as evidence of 

Lofton’s inconsistent statements but acknowledged that Lofton had never been 

questioned about these statements.11 The District Court sustained the Government’s 

objection to the admission of this excerpt.12 

 Now on appeal, both Appellants maintain that the first conversation should have 

been admitted as evidence of bias. Miller believes that this exclusion prevented him 

“from showing . . . that Lofton received special treatment from the investigating 

agents.”13 This basis for admission, however, was never argued to the District Court and, 

as such, is waived.14 And, even were it not, the record does not support this claim 

because Lofton was never questioned by the defense about the invitation to dinner, nor 

did the defense call the DEA Agent to be questioned about his offer. Likewise, it was not 

 

9 Id. 

10 App. at 1667a. 

11 App. at 1454a. 

12 App. at 1454a, 1466a. 

13 Miller Br. at 26. 

14 United States v. Burnett, 773 F.3d 122, 130 (3d Cir. 2014). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 7 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
8 

an abuse of discretion for the District Court to exclude the second excerpt. Nothing in 

that exchange was inconsistent with Lofton’s prior testimony and the excerpt makes no 

mention of coordination with other witnesses or any other type of conversation. 

 In sum, it was not an abuse of discretion for the District Court to exclude the 

forgoing excerpts from Lofton’s recorded telephone conversations. 

Crews’ Mandatory Minimum Sentence 

 Next, Crews individually challenges his sentence, specifically the imposition of a 

statutorily mandated minimum term. Prior to sentencing, the Government filed for a 

downward variance from the advisory guidelines range on account of assistance Crews 

provided in another prosecution. The Government declined to file, however, a motion 

permitting a sentence below the statutory mandatory minimum of 240 months. Crews 

offered several objections to his proposed sentence, including an objection based on a 

perceived Alleyne error as well as an objection to an enhancement for his leadership role 

in the offense. The District Court granted Crews a downward variance, rejected his other 

challenges, and imposed the mandatory minimum sentence permitted by the statute—240 

months. On appeal, Crews again attacks the propriety of his sentence. We start with his 

claim of Alleyne error. 

 After the verdict was handed down, but before Crews was sentenced, the Supreme 

Court announced its decision in Alleyne v. United States.

15 In Alleyne, the Supreme 

 

15133 S.Ct. 2151 (2013). The jury verdict was announced on March 14, 2012. The 

Supreme Court handed down its opinion in the Alleyne case on June 17, 2013, and Crews 

was sentenced on November 5, 2013. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 8 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
9 

Court held that any fact that increases the mandatory minimum sentence is an element 

which must be determined by the jury.16 Therefore, where a factual determination such 

as a drug quantity “trigger[s] a statutory mandatory minimum sentence, [it] must . . . be 

submitted to a jury.”17 Crews was charged, at Count Five of the indictment, with 

responsibility for distributing “five kilograms or more, that is hundreds of kilograms, of 

mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine, and 50 grams or more, 

that is multiple kilograms, of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of 

cocaine base (“crack”).”18 Concerning Count Five, the District Court instructed the jury 

that, to find Crews guilty, it must “be satisfied that the Government proved the weight or 

quantity beyond a reasonable doubt.”19 Further, the District Court noted that the jury had 

received “evidence during the course of this trial as to how much—what the weight was 

with respect to what was recovered and what was involved.”20 The jury was also 

specifically told that it must “determine the weight of the cocaine and cocaine base crack 

which was involved in the conspiracy,” and that “in making this decision, you should 

consider all the controlled substances that the members of the conspiracy actually 

distributed.”21 Finally, the District Court told the jury that they must “unanimously find 

 

16 Id. at 2155, 2163. 

17 United States v. Smith, 751 F.3d 107, 117 (3d Cir. 2014) (interpreting Alleyne). 

18 App. at 111a. These were alleged violations of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A). 

19 App. at 1504a. 

20 App. at 1505a. 

21 App. at 1505a. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 9 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
10 

beyond a reasonable doubt that the weight or quantity of cocaine that was involved in the 

conspiracy was five kilograms or more.”22 In finding Crews guilty of conspiracy, the 

jury unanimously determined that the conspiracy involved five or more kilograms of 

cocaine and 280 grams or more of cocaine base.23 But, as Crews submits, and the 

Government concedes, the jury did not determine an exact amount of cocaine and cocaine 

base directly attributable to Crews himself. This lack of an individualized determination, 

the parties maintain, was error in light of Alleyne. We agree. However, such a lapse was 

harmless. 

Alleyne errors can certainly be reviewed for harmlessness. Recently, in United 

States v. Lewis,

24 we applied a harmless error analysis to an Alleyne error, noting that, 

while the Supreme Court had not discussed such a review in Alleyne, the Court has “. . . 

adopted the general rule that a constitutional error does not automatically require reversal 

 

22 App. at 1505a. Similar instructions were given to the jury on the amount of cocaine 

base they needed to find (280 grams). See App. at 1506a. 

23 App. at 1652a. We note that after Crews and Miller were indicted, the Fair Sentencing 

Act of 2010 (FSA) was enacted. It increased the amount of crack cocaine that triggers 

the ten-year mandatory minimum sentence from 50 grams to 280 grams. On June 21, 

2012, the United States Supreme Court held that the more lenient penalties of the FSA 

apply to those offenders whose crimes occurred before the effective date of the Act 

(August 3, 2010), but who were sentenced after that date. See Dorsey v. United States, 

132 S.Ct. 2321, 2335 (2012). Here, the offenses being prosecuted occurred well before 

August of 2010 and the Appellees were sentenced well after that date. Therefore, while 

the indictment charged them only with conspiracy to distribute 50 grams of crack 

cocaine, the District Court correctly instructed the jury that it had to find the conspiracy 

involved 280 grams of crack cocaine. 

24 802 F.3d 449 (3d Cir. 2015). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 10 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
11 

of a conviction,” and that the Supreme Court has “applied harmless error analysis to a 

wide range of errors and has recognized that most constitutional errors can be 

harmless.”25 Lewis provides an important template for our analysis in this case. As a 

prerequisite, Lewis instructs that harmless error review may only be undertaken “when 

the defendant has made a timely objection to an error.”26 That was done here. Crews’ 

objections to his sentence contained specific reference and argument to Alleyne, sufficient 

to satisfy this requirement.27 Lewis additionally reminds us that the Government has a 

heavy burden “to demonstrate that reversal is not warranted.”28 And lastly, Lewis notes 

the important distinction between trial errors and sentencing errors.29 

 Both types of errors are subject to harmless-error review, though our standard of 

review differs markedly for each one. “Harmless-error review for a sentencing error 

turns on whether the error did or did not ‘contribute to the [sentence] obtained.’”30 By 

contrast, harmless-error review for a trial error “turns on whether it is ‘clear beyond a 

 

25 802 F.3d at 454 (quoting Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 306 (1991)). 

26 Id. (quoting United States v. Adams, 252 F.3d 276, 281 (3d Cir. 2001)). 

27 See, e.g., App. at 1807a, 1874a. 

28 Lewis, 802 F.3d at 454 (quoting United States v. Waller, 654 F.3d 430, 438 (3d Cir. 

2011)). 

29 Id. 455 (citing United States v. Brennan, 326 F.3d 176, 180 (3d Cir. 2003)). 

30Id. at 456. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 11 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
12 

reasonable doubt that a rational jury would have found the defendant guilty absent the 

error.’”31 

 In Lewis, we categorized the Alleyne error as “a pure sentencing error.”32 There, 

Lewis’s indictment charged him with the offense of using or carrying a firearm during 

and in relation to a crime of violence. And at trial, the jury was properly instructed for 

that offense and found him guilty. Yet the District Court sentenced him for brandishing a 

firearm during a crime of violence, which is a “‘separate, aggravated offense that must be 

found by a jury.’”33 We held that this was a “pure sentencing error,” as the jury was 

properly instructed at trial as to each element of the crime for which Lewis was indicted 

and found him guilty of that crime, but then the District Court sentenced him for a crime 

for which he was neither indicted nor tried. As a result, applying harmless-error review, 

we considered whether the Alleyne error contributed to Lewis’s sentence, concluded that 

it did, and vacated the sentence and remanded. 

 Importantly, we also recognized in Lewis that “not . . . all Alleyne or Apprendi

errors are pure sentencing errors.”34 For example, in United States v. Vasquez,35 we were 

confronted with “both a trial error and a resulting sentencing error.”36 There, Vasquez 

 

31 Id. (quoting Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1, 18 (1999)). 

32 Id. at 455. 

33 Id. at 454 (quoting Alleyne v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2151, 2162 (2013)). 

34 Id. at 455. 35 271 F.3d 93 (3d Cir. 2001). 

 

36 Id. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 12 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
13 

was indicted and tried for conspiring to possess and distribute more than five kilograms 

of cocaine. But the District Court never properly instructed the jury at trial on drug 

quantity, which was an element of the offense for which he was indicted and tried. As a 

result, Vasquez’s prescribed statutory maximum was 240 months, but the District Court, 

in violation of Apprendi, sentenced him to 288 months after finding at sentencing that he 

had possessed a certain quantity of drugs. So, even though the District Court erred at 

sentencing, that error was caused by a trial error—i.e., its failure to submit to the jury an 

element of the offense for which he was indicted and tried. And because this trial error 

was “comparable to the errors in both Neder [v. United States, 527 U.S. 1 (1999)], and 

Johnson [v. United States, 520 U.S. 461 (1997)],” we considered whether the evidence at 

trial established beyond a reasonable doubt that Vasquez had possessed the quantity of 

drugs found by the District Court and held that it did.37 In other words, we were 

“confident that Vazquez’s sentence would have been the same had the jury made the drug 

quantity finding.”38 

 The error in this case is akin to the trial error in Vasquez rather than the pure 

sentencing error in Lewis. Like Vasquez’s indictment, Crews’ indictment charged him 

with conspiring to possess and distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. Yet the 

District Court never properly instructed the jury at trial that they had to determine the 

quantity of drugs specifically attributable to Crews and instead instructed it to determine 

the quantity of drugs attributable to the conspiracy as a whole. Then, at sentencing, the 

 

37 Id. at 102. 

38 Id. at 104.

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 13 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
14 

District Court, in violation of Alleyne, sentenced Crews to 240 months, which was the 

mandatory minimum for an offense involving five or more kilograms of cocaine. 

Accordingly, because the District Court’s Alleyne error was caused by a trial error, we 

can look to the trial record and conclude that the error was harmless because of the 

overwhelming evidence in support of the drug quantity. 

 For example, Crews supplied Vincent Graham with 4.5 to 9 ounce quantities of 

cocaine every five to seven days throughout 2003.39 And, evidence also established that 

Crews supplied Graham with 4.5 to 13 ounces of cocaine every five to seven days 

between May, 2005 and May, 2006.40 The trial record also reveals that Michael Durant 

sold Crews 20 to 25 kilograms of cocaine between 2004 and 2005.41 Before that, 

Emmanuel Moore supplied Crews with approximately 25 kilograms of cocaine between 

the fall of 2002 and early 2003.42 Evidence also established that Moore traveled to 

California two times per week between May 2003 and October 2004 and purchased “no 

less than 5” kilograms of cocaine per week for Crews.43 Indeed, Crews admits in his 

brief that “[i]n 2004, Moore purchased at least 20 kilos of cocaine on each trip to 

California; Crews would receive between five and eight of the kilos.”44 And, the record 

 

39 App. at 909a-15a. 

40 App. at 916a-17a. 

41 App. at 634a-38a. 

42 App. at 983a-84a, 988a-93a. 

43 App. at 998a-1003a. 

44 Crews Br. at 5 (citing App. at 1011a). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 14 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
15 

also establishes Crews received 20 kilograms of cocaine from a source Lofton had in 

North Carolina.45 Given all of this, including Crews’ admission on appeal, we have little 

difficulty concluding that the trial record contained overwhelming evidence of drug 

quantity attributable to Crews. Therefore, we also have little difficulty concluding the 

District Court’s Alleyne error was harmless. 

 Crews next argues that the post-conviction assistance he gave the Government in 

other investigations required the Government to file a motion pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 

3553(e).46 This argument is meritless as well. 

 At sentencing, the Government filed a motion for a downward variance from the 

applicable Guideline range pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1, based on Crews’ postconviction cooperation, but elected not to file a motion pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e), 

which would have permitted the District Court to sentence Crews below the mandatory 

minimum sentence of 20 years. Crews first attempts to connect this refusal to file a § 

3553(e) motion to the Government’s filing of a motion under §5K1.1.47 He tells us that, 

because these provisions operate under the “same principles,” the District Court 

mistakenly concluded that it lacked the authority to depart below the mandatory 

minimum sentence, the absence of a §3553(e) motion notwithstanding. Crews is 

 

45 App. at 727a. 

46 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) provides: “Upon motion of the Government, the court shall have 

the authority to impose a sentence below a level established by statute as minimum 

sentence so as to reflect a defendant’s substantial assistance in the investigation or 

prosecution of another person who has committed an offense.” 

47 Crews Br. at 27. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 15 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
16 

incorrect. The Supreme Court has rejected the notion that § 5K1.1 and § 3553(e) 

somehow connect to form a unitary downward departure system whereby a § 5K1.1 

motion authorizes a district court to sentence below the mandatory minimum under § 

3553(e).48 

 Crews could possibly have received a sentence below the statutory minimum if the 

Government filed a motion pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e).49 It did not do so here and 

stated its reasons to the District Court in detail at the sentencing hearing.50 This makes 

the Government’s decision unreviewable unless the parties agreed that the Government 

would file such a motion and then did not do so, or that the Government’s reasons for not 

filing the motion were based on an unconstitutional motive, like a defendant’s race or 

religion.51 Crews had no agreement with the Government which would have required the 

filing of such a motion. So, Crews is left to argue that the reasons provided by the 

 

48 Melendez v. United States, 518 U.S. 120 (1996). 

49 See United States v. Kellum, 356 F.3d 285, 289 (3d Cir. 2004) (holding that a district 

court only has authority to depart below mandatory minimum sentence pursuant to 18 

U.S.C. § 3553(e), (f)); Melendez v. United States, 518 U.S. 120, 130 (1996) (a district 

court has no authority to impose a sentence below a statutory mandatory minimum when 

the government has not made a motion pursuant to § 3553(e)). There are two other 

avenues whereby a district court might impose a sentence less than the statutory 

mandatory minimum—Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35(b) and the safety value set 

out in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(7)—which are inapplicable here. 

50 App. at 1876a-1882a. 

51 See Wade v. United States, 504 U.S. 181, 185-86 (1992). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 16 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
17 

Government for not filing the § 3553(e) motion are “not rationally related to any 

legitimate Government end.”52 He bears the burden on this point and has not met it.53 

 The Government set out numerous reasons in support of its decision not to file a § 

3553(e) motion: the extent and breadth of Crews’ drug trafficking and money laundering 

activities, the decades-long duration of the conspiracy, Crews’ leadership role, the 

massive amounts of drugs put onto the streets of Philadelphia through Crews’ actions, the 

large number of individuals involved in Crews’ activities, Crews’ continuation of drug 

trafficking activities despite his conviction and supervised release for the same activities 

in 1995, the timing of his cooperation with the Government—which he gave only after 

being convicted—his post-conviction offer of information on the criminal activities of 

witnesses who testified against him, Crews’ failure to accept responsibility for his crimes, 

the sentences imposed on his co-defendants and the level of departure granted to 

witnesses who cooperated, and the level of intimidation those witnesses faced as a result 

of their trial testimony against Crews.54 The District Court found no arbitrariness among 

these reasons nor do we. Crews maintains that several of the Government’s reasons were 

indeed arbitrary, yet he offers us very few specifics or support for his contentions. Mere 

claims that Crews provided substantial assistance and generalized allegations of the 

Government’s improper motive do not “entitle a defendant to a remedy . . ..”55 

 

52 Id. 

53 Id. at 186. 

54 App. at 1879a-1883a. 

55 Wade, 504 U.S. at 186. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 17 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
18 

 He argues, for example, that some defendants “more deeply involved in the same 

conspiracy as Crews testified at trial and received lesser sentences.”56 But, Crews’ scant 

paragraph of conclusory argument on this point lacks supporting facts from which a 

viable claim of arbitrariness can spring. Additionally, Crews suggests that the 

Government’s decision not to file the § 3553(e) motion amounted to an impermissible 

attempt by the Government to control the exercise of judicial authority.57 This is a 

separation of powers argument. He characterizes the Government’s concern with 

avoiding sentencing disparities as representative of a “[d]isagreement with and distrust of 

judicial authority.”58 However, Crews ignores the fact that a statute—§ 3553(e)—gives 

the Government authority to make the decision whether to file the motion and that this 

statutory mandate is not a usurpation of judicial power. We have noted that, “[w]hen 

Congress establishes a minimum sentence for a particular crime, district courts are 

required to sentence defendants guilty of that crime to a term of imprisonment no less 

than the Congressionally prescribed minimum, unless an explicit exception to the 

minimum sentence applies.”59 Indeed, the Supreme Court has “consistently recognized 

 

56 Crews Br. at 30. 

57Id. 

58 Id. 

59 United States v. Winebarger, 664 F.3d 388, 392 (3d Cir. 2011). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 18 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
19 

that Congress has plenary authority over the designation of appropriate punishment for 

federal crimes.”60

 Lastly, Crews charges that the Government arbitrarily took the timing of his 

cooperation into account when deciding not to file the § 3553(e) motion. He argues, 

more specifically, that he was penalized for exercising his right to trial. That did not 

happen here. At sentencing the Government acknowledged distinctions between Crews 

and his co-defendants, recognizing that the co-defendants who pleaded guilty and offered 

meaningful assistance to the Government received lesser sentences.61 Further, the 

Government acknowledged that Crews had the right to proceed to trial and that the 

Government was not penalizing him for exercising that right.62 There is no evidence, 

however, of unconstitutional conduct by the Government. Instead, the Government made 

the decision not to file the § 3553(e) motion after weighing the quantity and quality of 

Crews’ assistance; assistance it did not find substantial enough to warrant the filing of the 

motion. For example, while Crews did provide information on unsolved murders 

allegedly committed by his co-conspirators, the information was decades old and, as the 

Government noted, it does not typically prosecute murder cases.63 Crews also gave the 

Government information concerning a cell phone that another co-conspirator used, 

 

60 United States v. Frank, 864 F.2d 992, 1010 (3d Cir. 1988) (citing United States v. 

Grayson, 438 U.S. 41 (1978). 

61 See App. at 1879a. 

62 Id. 

63 Id. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 19 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
20 

information that the Government acknowledged as useful during the penalty phase of that 

co-conspirator’s trial.64 However, since Crews was by then a convicted felon, thereby 

diminishing the reliability of his testimony in the eyes of a jury, the Government elected 

not to call him to testify in that case. The foregoing reasons do not reflect a motivation to 

punish Crews for exercising his right to a trial. Instead, they reflect the Government’s 

rational consideration of the value of Crews’ assistance as compared to that offered by 

other conspirators. We agree, therefore, with the District Court that the Government did 

not act arbitrarily in declining to file a § 3553(e) motion. 

 Crews next argues that § 841(b)(1)(A)’s mandatory minimum sentence “conflicts” 

with the parsimony provision of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), which provides that a district court 

“shall impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary” to accomplish the 

goals of sentencing.65 Specifically, Crews maintains that the District Court was unable to 

carry out its judicial function, as set forth in the mandates of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), 

because it had to comply with the mandatory 20 year sentence. We have previously 

rejected such challenges to mandatory minimum sentences.66 These decisions are 

 

64 Id.

65 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). 

66 See United States v. Grober, 624 F.3d 592 (3d Cir. 2010); United States v. Walker, 473 

F.3d 71, 85 (3d Cir. 2007) (holding that there is no conflict between § 3553 and a 

mandatory minimum sentence provision because “ § 3553(a) must be read in conjunction 

with § 3553(e), which prohibits the court from sentencing a defendant below the statutory 

mandatory minimum sentence unless the Government files a motion permitting such 

departure”); United States v. MacEwan, 445 F.3d 237, 251–52 (3d Cir. 2006) (“Congress 

has the power to define criminal punishments without giving the courts any sentencing 

discretion.” (quoting Chapman v. United States, 500 U.S. 453, 467 (1991)). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 20 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
21 

binding precedent, and consequently resolve Crews’ argument in favor of the 

Government. Therefore, we need not discuss this particular issue in any greater detail. 

 We likewise need not discuss Crews’ next issue in any great depth. Crews 

challenges the enhancement of his sentence due to his prior criminal conviction. Title 21 

U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) contains a proviso whereby a mandatory minimum sentence can 

be doubled because of a prior criminal conviction. Crews argues that the existence of his 

prior conviction was an element of his offense and, as such, had to be alleged in the 

indictment and proven to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt. This argument has been 

rejected.67 The District Court was thus fully empowered to make the necessary findings 

to double Crews’ mandatory minimum sentence based on a prior conviction. 

 Lastly on the question of his sentence, Crews attacks the information filed by the 

Government pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 851, which doubled Crews’ mandatory minimum 

sentence. Specifically, he claims the notice he received of this enhancement was 

deficient. We disagree. Section 851 provides: 

No person who stands convicted of an offense under this part 

shall be sentenced to increased punishment by reason of one 

or more prior convictions, unless before trial, or before entry 

of a plea of guilty, the United States attorney files an 

information with the court (and serves a copy of such 

information on the person or counsel for the person) stating in 

writing the previous convictions to be relied upon....68

 

67 Almendarez–Torres v. United States, 523 U.S. 224, 246–47 (1998) (prior conviction 

that increases maximum penalty need not be treated as element of offense and proven to a 

jury); United States v. Blair, 734 F.3d 218, 227 (3d Cir. 2013) (“Alleyne do[es] nothing to 

restrict the established exception under Almendarez–Torres that allows judges to consider 

prior convictions.”). 

68 21 U.S.C. § 851(a)(1). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 21 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
22 

We review the sufficiency of the Government’s notice de novo and agree with the 

District Court that Crews was provided with sufficient notice of the Government’s 

intention to rely on his prior felony conviction to enhance his sentence.69 

 The Government’s information stated the following: 

On or about February 21, 1996, defendant Jaquel Crews was 

sentenced in the United States District Court for the Eastern 

District of Pennsylvania on his guilty plea to the felony drug 

offenses of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and distribution 

of cocaine base, at Criminal Number 95-0391, to a term of 56 

months, and 4 year supervised release. Jaquel Crews is 

charged in the Second Superseding Indictment, Criminal No. 

10-663-2, with, in Count Five, conspiracy to possess with 

intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, in 

violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. Jaquel Crews’ prior felony drug 

conviction serves as the basis for increased punishment 

pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 841(B)(1)(b).70 

Crews asserts that this notice was faulty because it omits the date his prior trafficking 

conviction became final and did not specifically mention that this conviction became 

final before the offense dates in the instant prosecution. We have never required such 

specificity, however. Instead, all that is required is that the § 851 notice provide a 

defendant with reasonable notice of the Government’s intention to rely on a previous 

conviction and an opportunity to be heard on the issue.71 The notice in this case satisfies 

these basic requirements. 

 

69 United States v. Weaver, 267 F.3d 231, 246 (3d Cir. 2001). 

70 App. at 1671a-72a. 

71 See Weaver, 267 F.3d at 247. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 22 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
23 

 In sum, we see no error in the application of the mandatory minimum sentence to 

Appellant Crews. 

Enhancement for Leadership Role 

 Crews complains that the District Court incorrectly determined that he was a 

leader of the drug conspiracy and, therefore, erroneously enhanced his sentence by four 

levels.72 We review a district court’s ruling on a sentencing enhancement that requires a 

predominately factual inquiry for clear error.73 The leadership enhancement is such an 

inquiry and it is appropriately activated if the evidence shows that Crews exercised some 

degree of control over at least one other person involved in the offense.74 We find no 

clear error in the District Court’s determination that Crews bore a leadership or 

organizational role in the offense. The evidence established, for example, that Crews 

supervised Donielle Fletcher in the production, packaging, storage, and delivery of 

cocaine from her residence.75 Further, evidence also established that Crews directed 

Craig Lofton and others to purchase large amounts of cocaine on buying trips to 

California. Crews paid for these trips from his own funds and answered to no one for 

these excursions.76 As the District Court aptly summarized, “[t]hose deals were his 

 

72 See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1(a). 

73 United States v. Richards, 674 F.3d 215, 221-22 (3d Cir. 2012). 

74United States v. Helbling, 209 F.3d 226, 243-44 (3d Cir. 2010); see also U.S.S.G. § 

3B1.1 app. note 2. 

75 App. at 262a-269a. 

76 See App. 1859a-69a. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 23 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
24 

deals.”77 Accordingly, the District Court did not clearly err in determining that the fourlevel leadership enhancement applied. 

Issues Related to the Forfeiture Determination 

 Both Miller and Crews challenge the forfeiture judgments entered against them, 

raising different points of attack.78 The Government sought forfeiture pursuant to 21 

U.S.C. §853, which limits forfeiture to “any property constituting, or derived from any 

proceeds the person obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of such violation; or any of 

the person’s property used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, or to 

facilitate the commission of, such violations.”79 The standard of proof is preponderance 

of the evidence.80 The District Court granted the forfeiture motion in the amount of $5 

million, and in doing so, indicated that its decision was supported by both a proceeds 

theory and a facilitating property theory of forfeiture.81

 We will start with a challenge to the forfeiture raised by Appellant Miller. Miller 

asserts that the District Court, as opposed to the jury, unconstitutionally made certain 

factual findings in ordering the forfeiture. Our decision in United States v. Leahy, and the 

 

77 App. at 1867a. 

78 As these issues present questions of law, we exercise plenary review. United States v. 

Vampire Nation, 451 F.3d 189, 198 (3d Cir. 2006) (citing United States v. Ledesma–

Cuesta, 347 F.3d 527, 530 (3d Cir. 2003)). 

79 21 U.S.C. § 853(a)(1), (2). 

80 United States v. Leahy, 438 F.3d 328, 333 (3d Cir. 2006). 

81 App. at 11. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 24 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
25 

Supreme Court’s decision in Libretti v. United States preclude Miller’s argument.82 

Those decisions clearly hold that the right to a jury is not implicated in criminal forfeiture 

proceedings.83 In light of this controlling precedent, Miller’s claim is untenable.84 

 For his part, Crews contends that the District Court lacked statutory authority to 

impose a $5 million money judgment against him personally under 21 U.S.C. § 

853(a)(1). This argument likewise fails when confronted with our prior precedent. In 

United States v. Vampire Nation, we specifically held that “in personam forfeiture 

judgments are appropriate under 21 U.S.C. § 853, even where the amount of the 

judgment exceeds the defendant’s available assets at the time of conviction.”85 Crews 

makes several attempts to distinguish our decision in Vampire Nation from his case, all of 

which are unavailing. For example, he believes Vampire Nation is inapplicable because 

the forfeiture there was rooted in 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C), a civil forfeiture provision 

that was made enforceable in criminal prosecutions by 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c), whereas his 

 

82 438 F.3d 328, 331 (3d Cir. 2006)(en banc); 516 U.S. 29, 48-49 (1995). 

83 See, e.g., Libretti, 516 U.S. at 49. 

84 The Appellants call our attention to the Supreme Court’s decision in Southern Union 

Co. v. United States, 132 S.Ct. 2344 (2014), arguing that opinion casts serious doubt on 

the continued validity of Libretti. In Southern Union, the Supreme Court applied 

Apprendi to the imposition of criminal fines, thereby requiring a jury determination 

before fines can be imposed. The Appellants urge us to view Libretti as effectively 

overruled, and ask us to now require a jury determination in the context of criminal 

forfeitures, just as Southern Union required it for criminal fines. This, we cannot do. 

Libretti has not been overruled, and we are obligated to follow its clear holding that “the 

right to a jury verdict on forfeitability does not fall within the Sixth Amendment’s 

constitutional protection.” 516 U.S. at 49. 

85 451 F.3d 189, 203 (3d Cir. 2006). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 25 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
26 

forfeiture was imposed directly under § 853. This argument is meritless. Our decision in 

Vampire Nation specifically addresses § 853 forfeitures.86 

 Next, Crews pivots and argues that Vampire Nation does not apply because that 

case concerned § 853’s procedural provisions, while his forfeiture was premised on that 

section’s substantive authority. Yet, Crews offers us no supporting authority to validate 

this distinction, nor does he attempt to explain the importance of such a difference. The 

Government, however, did find case law rejecting Crews’ argument. The Court of 

Appeals for the Second Circuit looked at this issue and found “no meaningful difference” 

between an in personam forfeiture judgment arising directly from § 853, and an in 

personam forfeiture that might arise from § 853 by way of another statute, 28 U.S.C. § 

2461(c), for example.87 We agree. Lastly, Crews tries to get out from our holding in 

Vampire Nation by arguing that that opinion never addressed the point he advances here: 

in personam money judgments are not available under § 853. This is not the case. We 

did address this argument in Vampire Nation, specifically holding that “an in personam 

forfeiture judgment may be entered for the full amount of the criminal proceeds.”88 This 

holding precludes Crews’ argument. 

 

86 Id. at 203. 

87 United States v. Kalish, 626 F.3d 165, 169 (2d Cir. 2010). 

88 451 F.3d at 202-03. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 26 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
27 

 To conclude, the Appellants’ claims that in personam forfeiture money judgments 

are unavailable in the context of their drug trafficking sentences are erroneous. We find 

no error in the District Court’s imposition of such a judgment. 

 As a parallel argument, Crews contends the District Court lacked the authority to 

enter an in personam money judgment against him based on a facilitating property theory. 

Here, he finds fault with the indictment. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 

Rule 32, “[a] court must not enter a judgment of forfeiture in a criminal proceeding 

unless the indictment or information contains notice to the defendant that the Government 

will seek the forfeiture of property as part of any sentence in accordance with the 

applicable statute.”89 Crews argues that the forfeiture judgment was invalid because 

while the phrase “the sum of $5,000,000” was indicated in the proceeds section of the 

indictment, it was not repeated in the forfeiture property section.90 This reading of the 

rule is too restrictive. Rule 32 and due process only require that notice of the possible 

forfeiture be given to a defendant and that a defendant have an opportunity to be heard.91 

An indictment is sufficiently specific as long as it “puts the defendant on notice that the 

government seeks forfeiture and identifies the assets with sufficient specificity to permit 

the defendant to marshal evidence in their defense.”92 Here, the indictment gave Crews 

 

89 Fed. R. Crim. P. 32.2(a). 

90 Appellant Miller joins in this argument. 

91 See United States v. James Daniel Good Real Property, 510 U.S. 43, 48–50 (1993). 

92 See, e.g., United States v. Loe, 248 F.3d 449, 464 (5th Cir. 2001). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 27 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
28 

ample notice that the Government intended to seek a $5 million forfeiture money 

judgment and the fact that this request was not repeated in separate sections of the 

indictment is not an error. 

 Crews also argues that the District Court erred by imposing joint and several 

liability based on the forfeited property. Here, we share the Government’s belief that this 

argument is largely academic, given that joint and several liability was also imposed by 

the District Court based on the proceeds of the conspiracy, an action which our prior 

precedent clearly endorses.93 Crews claims that the language of 21 U.S.C. § 853(a)(2) 

limits the scope of a forfeiture under the facilitating property theory to that property 

belonging only to him. We do not agree. Section 853(a)(2) permits the forfeiture of “any 

of the person’s property used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, 

or to facilitate the commission of” the crime. Crews keys-in on the words “any person” 

and “the person’s” as language, he says, that limits the extent of the forfeiture to property 

that belongs solely to him. Crews neglects to mention, however, that the proceeds 

section of § 853 contains the same language and we have held that language to take in all 

the property possessed by any member of the conspiracy.94 In United States v. Pitts, we 

noted that § 853(a)(1) “does not say that each conspirator shall forfeit only such property 

involved in the offense which is or has even been in that conspirator’s possession. 

 

93 See, e.g., United States v. Pitts, 193 F.3d 751, 765 (3d Cir. 1999); see also United States 

v. Van Nguyen, 602 F.3d 886, 904 (8th Cir. 2010) (imposing joint and several liability 

with respect to forfeiture of proceeds of a drug conspiracy). 

94193 F.3d 751, 765 (3d Cir. 1999). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 28 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
29 

Rather, the statute recognizes that the amount of property involved in a . . . conspiracy 

cannot be different for different conspirators.”95 Given the identical language in § 

853(a)(2), we see no reason not to apply this holding to that section. And, Crews has 

offered us none. We therefore see no error in the District Court’s order of forfeiture. 

 Lastly, Appellant Miller argues that the District Court should have made a 

foreseeability determination before imposing joint and several forfeiture liability. He 

acknowledges, however, that he failed to “object on this basis below.”96 We, therefore, 

apply a plain error review to his claims.97 Miller insists that we should apply plenary 

review to this claim nonetheless because he did not have an opportunity to object to the 

lack of a foreseeability finding.98 Specifically, he says that he could not have known the 

District Court would impose joint and several liability on him without a foreseeability 

determination until the District Court issued its order and memorandum.99 By that time, 

he maintains, it was too late for him to object. We disagree. Miller had plenty of time 

and opportunity to object. Indeed, almost a year would pass between the entry of the 

District Court’s forfeiture order and Miller’s sentencing.100 Nothing prevented Miller 

 

95 Id. 

96 Miller Br. at 40. 

97 United States v. Berger, 689 F.3d 297, 299 (3d Cir. 2012). 

98 Miller Brief at 40. 

99 Id. 

100 The forfeiture order and accompanying memorandum were filed on August 14, 2012 

and Miller was sentenced on July 24, 2013. 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 29 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
30 

from filing an objection to the forfeiture based on a lack of foreseeability during that 

time. This is because a forfeiture order only becomes final at the time of sentencing.101 

Therefore, given this omission, we review Miller’s claim for plain error.102

 Under the plain error standard, we may reverse the District Court's ruling only if 

there was “(1) an error; (2) that is plain; (3) that affects substantial rights; and (4) which 

seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.”103 

There was no error here, much less a plain one. We have held that a District Court may 

impose joint and several liability on co-defendants as part of a forfeiture money 

judgment.104 And, while other courts may have done so, we have not held that a 

foreseeability finding is required prior to the imposition of joint and several liability on 

co-defendants. Therefore, we see no error. Even were we to find error, it certainly would 

not be plain, given that a foreseeability requirement is not uniformly required. Miller 

calls our attention to decisions from other circuits that have required a foreseeability 

finding—United States v. Elder,

105 for example. He also points out that we have issued a 

 

101 See Fed. R. Crim. P. 32.2(b)(1)(A); United States v. Pelullo, 178 F.3d 196, 202 (3d Cir. 

1999). 

102 See United States v. Flores, 454 F.3d 149, 156 (3d Cir. 2006) (citing Fed.R.Crim.P. 

30; Gov’t of the Virgin Islands v. Knight, 989 F.2d 619, 631 (3d Cir. 1993)). 

103 United States v. Paladino, 769 F.3d 197, 201 (3d Cir. 2014). 

104 United States v. Pitt, 193 F.3d 751, 765 (3d Cir. 1999). 

105 682 F.3d 1065 (8th Cir. 2012). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 30 Date Filed: 04/01/2016
31 

non-precedential opinion requiring such a determination.106 However, courts are not 

harmonized in their view that a foreseeability requirement is necessary. The Court of 

Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, for example, has specifically rejected a foreseeability 

requirement, relying on Supreme Court precedent.107 And, our decision in Plaskett, as 

the parties recognize, was a non-precedential opinion issued under our I.O.P. 5.7, and as 

such lacks precedential authority and is non-binding on any subsequent case or panel. 

Given these contrary opinions, we cannot say that the District Court’s lack of a 

foreseeability determination was obvious error.108

Conclusion 

 In light of the foregoing, we will affirm the convictions of Appellants Crews and 

Miller, the sentence of Appellant Crews, and the forfeiture money judgments entered 

against both Appellants in the District Court. 

 

106 United States v. Plaskett, 355 F. App’x 639 (3d Cir. 2009). 

107 See, e.g., United States v. Browne, 505 F.3d 1229, 1279 (11th Cir. 2007). 

108 United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 733-35 (1993) (“To demonstrate “plain error,” a 

defendant must prove that the Court erred, that the error was “clear” or “obvious,” and 

that the error “affect[ed] substantial rights” of the defendant.). 

Case: 13-4449 Document: 003112250698 Page: 31 Date Filed: 04/01/2016