[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

________________________

No. 19-12431

Non-Argument Calendar

________________________

D.C. Docket No. 8:18-cr-00308-MSS-TGW-3

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

SHARMONTE LATREZ JOHNSON,

 Defendant-Appellant.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Middle District of Florida

________________________

(July 15, 2020)

Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, MARTIN, and ROSENBAUM, Circuit 

Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Case: 19-12431 Date Filed: 07/15/2020 Page: 1 of 11
2

Sharmonte Johnson appeals his conviction, after a jury trial, of two counts of

possession with intent to distribute illegal narcotic U-47700, and one count of 

conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute U-47700. He argues that hearsay 

statements by a coconspirator were improperly admitted into evidence at trial, and 

that there was insufficient evidence to convict him on all three counts. After 

careful consideration, we affirm.

I.

Johnson was arrested as part of a state and federal investigation of opioid 

distribution in Pinellas County, Florida, from 2017 to 2018. In the course of this

investigation, a confidential informant contacted Larry Christian, Jr., on November 

28, 2017, to order “a zip” (meaning one ounce of powdered drugs) of either heroin, 

cocaine, or U-47700. Christian said someone would meet the informant at “the 

spot,” which was a gas station in St. Petersburg. Christian also confirmed a price

of $1900. 

On a later call but before the purchase, the informant asked Christian who he 

would be meeting. The informant asked whether Johnson, also known as “Dudz,”

was with Christian. Christian responded that Johnson was not with him, but that 

he was about to meet Johnson and then go see the informant. 

When the informant got to the gas station, Christian was not there. Instead, 

Johnson arrived alone, driving a red Chrysler. The informant joined Johnson in the 

Case: 19-12431 Date Filed: 07/15/2020 Page: 2 of 11
3

Chrysler and left with 27.93 grams of U-47700 in the form of a brown powder. 

When the informant left the Chrysler, he no longer had the $1900 in buy money he 

took with him into the car. 

On June 1, 2018, the informant arranged another deal for 200 counterfeit 

oxycodone pills at a price of $2200. Police told the informant to talk to Tavani 

Glaze, but Glaze was not available to do the deal. The informant spoke to 

Christian instead. Christian told the informant he was with Johnson and they were 

“getting in the car right now.” The informant told Christian he was “supposed to 

meet [Johnson]” at Glaze’s apartment “to grab some of those things from him.” 

The informant then called Glaze, asking if he should hold “the cheese,” meaning 

the money owed for the narcotics, for Glaze. Glaze instructed the informant not to 

hold the money and to hand it over at the deal. In a second call, Glaze told the 

informant that Johnson was on his way to Glaze’s apartment. 

Johnson picked Christian up in the red Chrysler and they drove to Glaze’s 

apartment. With Johnson and Christian parked in the Chrysler, the informant 

entered their vehicle with the buy money and left with blue pills containing 22.88 

grams of U-47700. 

Johnson, Christian, Glaze, and a third codefendant, Sirrico Swinton, were 

indicted on various drug charges. All four codefendants were charged with 

conspiring to possess with intent to distribute U-47700 in violation of 21 U.S.C. 

Case: 19-12431 Date Filed: 07/15/2020 Page: 3 of 11
4

§ 846 and § 841(b)(1)(C). On the basis of the November 2017 sale, Johnson and 

Christian were charged with possessing with intent to distribute U-47700 in 

violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. And stemming from the June 

2018 sale, Johnson, Glaze and Christian were charged with possessing with intent 

to distribute U-47700 in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). 

Johnson exercised his right to a jury trial. During the presentation of the 

government’s case, Johnson objected to the admission of Government Exhibits 3A 

and 4A. Both exhibits were transcripts of recorded conversations between the 

confidential informant and Larry Christian that took place on November 28, 2017, 

the date of the first controlled buy. 

Johnson argued that Exhibits 3A and 4A were inadmissible hearsay because 

there was no evidence “tying Mr. Johnson to Larry Christian” for purposes of the 

controlled buy. The government responded that it was seeking to admit the 

transcripts as “co-conspirator statements made during the course of and in 

furtherance of the conspiracy.” The district court instructed the government to lay 

the proper predicate for the co-conspirator hearsay exception and sustained 

Johnson’s objection in the meantime. 

Government witness Detective Shawn Walsh of the Pinellas County 

Sheriff’s Office then testified that, according to video secretly captured by the

confidential informant, it was Johnson who completed the drug transaction on 

Case: 19-12431 Date Filed: 07/15/2020 Page: 4 of 11
5

November 28, 2017. The district court accepted this testimony as a sufficient

factual predicate for the co-conspirator hearsay exception and admitted Exhibits 

3A and 4A over Johnson’s continued objection. 

After the government’s case and before closing statements, Johnson moved 

for a judgment of acquittal on all three counts. The district court denied his motion

both times, reasoning that there was sufficient evidence to convict on all counts. 

The jury convicted Johnson as charged. Johnson was sentenced to 97-months 

imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. He timely appealed. 

II.

This Court reviews a district court’s evidentiary rulings for abuse of 

discretion. United States v. Jiminez, 224 F.3d 1243, 1249 (11th Cir. 2000). We 

examine de novo the sufficiency of the evidence at trial, drawing all reasonable 

inferences and credibility evaluations in favor of the verdict. United States v. 

Frank, 599 F.3d 1221, 1233 (11th Cir. 2010).

III.

A.

We first address Johnson’s contention that the district court improperly 

admitted the transcripts of conversations between Christian and the confidential 

informant. This argument is without merit. 

Case: 19-12431 Date Filed: 07/15/2020 Page: 5 of 11
6

Rule 801 of the Federal Rules of Evidence explains that some out-of-court 

statements offered for their truth are not hearsay. One category of non-hearsay is 

statements “made by [an opposing] party’s coconspirator during and in furtherance 

of the conspiracy.” Fed. R. Evid. 801(d)(2)(E). To introduce a co-conspirator 

statement under this rule, “the government must show by a preponderance of the 

evidence that: (1) a conspiracy existed; (2) the defendant and the [hearsay] 

declarant were members of the conspiracy; and (3) the statement was made during 

the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy.” United States v. Hough, 803 F.3d 

1181, 1193 (11th Cir. 2015). When determining admissibility of a coconspirator 

statement, “the court may consider both the coconspirator’s hearsay statement and 

independent outside evidence.” United States v. Van Hemelryck, 945 F.2d 1493, 

1498 (11th Cir. 1991). 

The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the transcribed 

conversations between Christian and the informant, because the government met 

its burden to show the conversations qualified as coconspirator statements. First, 

the government showed by a preponderance of the evidence that Johnson and 

Christian were members of a conspiracy to sell illegal narcotics. A conspiracy 

requires an agreement between the defendant and another person with the purpose 

of performing an unlawful act, such as violating the narcotics laws. See United 

States v. Toler, 144 F.3d 1423, 1426 (11th Cir. 1998). The government introduced 

Case: 19-12431 Date Filed: 07/15/2020 Page: 6 of 11
7

evidence that Christian and the informant discussed trading “a zip”—one ounce of 

powdered drugs—for “19.” And the government showed that, after this 

conversation, Johnson showed up by himself at the usual “spot” to meet the 

informant. Johnson then delivered roughly one ounce of brown powder containing 

U-47700 to the informant and collected the $1900. This showed by a 

preponderance of the evidence that Johnson and Christian agreed to sell U-47700 

to the informant.

The government also introduced evidence that Christian’s conversations 

with the confidential informant on November 28, 2017, were in furtherance of this 

conspiracy. The conversations themselves make this clear. Christian and the 

informant negotiated the price for a “zip” to be delivered at “the same spot.” 

Christian made these statements to arrange a sale of narcotics, and Johnson carried 

out the sale. Given this evidence, the district court did not abuse its discretion in 

admitting the transcripts of conversations between Christian and the confidential 

informant.

B.

Johnson also argues there was not sufficient evidence to convict him at trial. 

We are not persuaded.

1.

Case: 19-12431 Date Filed: 07/15/2020 Page: 7 of 11
8

First, Johnson challenges his conviction on two counts of possessing with 

intent to distribute U-47700, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). A conviction 

under § 841(a)(1) requires the government to prove, through direct or 

circumstantial evidence, (1) knowledge, (2) possession, and (3) intent to distribute. 

United States v. Poole, 878 F.2d 1389, 1391 (11th Cir. 1989) (per curiam). 

Johnson contends that the government did not prove his knowledge of the 

narcotics. He argues that, although he was “involved in 2 hand to hand drug 

transactions,” the government did not introduce evidence that he knew “about the 

purpose of these transaction[s] and what the substance was that was being sold.” 

Appellant’s Br. at 11–12. 

Johnson points to United States v. Louis, 861 F.3d 1330 (11th Cir. 2017), 

where our Court reversed a conviction under § 841(a)(1) for insufficient evidence 

that the defendant knowingly possessed a controlled substance. Id. at 1335. The 

defendant in Louis was arrested at the shipyard where he worked, after picking up 

two sealed boxes from his employer’s ship in his personal automobile. Id. at 1332. 

Mr. Louis ran from police when the car was stopped. Id. The boxes in his car 

were found to contain cocaine. Id. We reversed the conviction because “the 

evidence [did] not prove that Louis knew that the boxes contained a controlled 

substance.” Id. at 1334. We held that Louis’s presence at the shipyard and his 

flight from police did not establish knowledge, especially because his presence 

Case: 19-12431 Date Filed: 07/15/2020 Page: 8 of 11
9

with the boxes was “brief” and he “was never left completely alone with the 

boxes.” Id. at 1334–35.

Louis does not support reversing Johnson’s conviction. Viewing the 

evidence against Johnson in the light most favorable to the jury’s guilty verdict, a 

reasonable jury could have convicted Johnson on his possession charges. The 

government introduced evidence that Johnson—by himself—delivered one ounce 

of brown powder (found to contain U-47700) to the informant in exchange for the

previously agreed-upon amount: $1900. He made the trade at the location

Christian specified as the place the informant could pick up “a zip.” A few months 

later, the same informant stated he was going to meet Johnson for a pick-up. 

Johnson and Christian then delivered a baggie of 200 blue counterfeit oxycodone 

pills (found to contain U-47700) to the informant in exchange for $2200. These 

circumstances were sufficient for a reasonable jury to infer that Johnson knowingly 

possessed U-47700 when he sold it to the informant on November 28, 2017, and 

June 1, 2018. See United States v. Anderson, 289 F.3d 1321, 1325 (11th Cir. 

2002) (holding sufficient evidence supported a § 841(a)(1) conviction, because the 

defendant “engage[d] in what appeared to be two hand-to-hand drug sales”). Thus, 

the district court did not err in denying Johnson’s motion to acquit on the 

possession charges.

2.

Case: 19-12431 Date Filed: 07/15/2020 Page: 9 of 11
10

Next, Johnson challenges his conviction for conspiring to possess with intent 

to distribute U-47700 under 21 U.S.C. § 846. The government introduced 

sufficient evidence to support this conviction as well. 

To secure a conviction under § 846, the government must show an 

agreement between the defendant and one or more persons to do an unlawful act. 

See Toler, 144 F.3d at 1426. The government can prove a conspiracy by 

circumstantial evidence. United States v. Garcia, 405 F.3d 1260, 1270 (11th Cir. 

2005) (per curiam). The evidence need not prove that the defendant “knew all of 

the detail[s] or participated in every aspect of the conspiracy.” Id. Instead, it must 

only show that the defendant “knew the essential nature of the conspiracy.” 

Id. (quotation marks omitted).

Johnson argues he did not agree “to partake in a broad conspiracy spanning 

the better part of a year” and that his two drug sales “were isolated and 

independent of each other in every way.” Appellant’s Br. at 11–12. There was 

sufficient evidence, however, that Johnson agreed with Christian and Glaze to 

unlawfully sell U-47700. For the November 2017 sale, Christian took the 

informant’s order for one ounce of powdered U-47700 and Johnson delivered the 

order and collected the money. For the June 2018 sale, Glaze took the informant’s 

order for 200 pills and told the informant to turn over “the cheese,” or the money, 

at the time of the sale. The informant called Christian and told him he was 

Case: 19-12431 Date Filed: 07/15/2020 Page: 10 of 11
11

supposed to meet with Dudz, meaning Johnson, to “grab some of those things from 

him.” Johnson and Christian traveled together to Glaze’s house, gave the 

informant the ordered pills, and took the cash with Glaze’s authorization. 

In both instances, Johnson delivered U-47700 and collected payment to 

carry out deals arranged by Christian and Glaze. Viewed in the light most 

favorable to the verdict, this evidence showed “a meeting of the minds to commit 

an unlawful act.” See Toler, 144 F.3d at 1426 (quotation marks omitted). A 

reasonable jury could find that Johnson knew the essential nature of the 

conspiracy—to sell illegal narcotics—and joined it. For these reasons, the district 

court did not err in denying Johnson’s motion for acquittal on the conspiracy 

count.

AFFIRMED.

Case: 19-12431 Date Filed: 07/15/2020 Page: 11 of 11