The Ho norable Dean Whipple, United States District Judge for the Wester n 1 District of Missouri. United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

_____________ No. 96-3872WM

_____________ United States of America, * * Appellee, * * v. * On Appeal from the United * States District Court * for the Western District Jose Jesus Varela, * of Missouri. * * Appellant. *

___________ Submitted: January 15, 1998 Filed: March 16, 1998

___________ Befo re RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Judge, HANSEN and MURPHY, Circui t Judges.

___________ RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Judge.

In this case, Jose Jesus Varela appeals the sentence imposed by the Distric t Court following his guilty plea for drug-related crimes. Varela argues that the District 1-2-

Co urt incorrectly calculated his base offense level for purposes of the federa l Sentencing Guidelines. We affirm.
I.
Varelapleaded guilty to both counts of a two-count indictment: conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and attempt t o possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A) (1994).
Va rela described his participation in the conspiracy that led to his arrest. I n Decembe r

1995, Varela met his cousin, Loreto Romero, in a hotel room in North Kansas City. Romero had fronted cocaine to Don Flores, who sold the cocaine t o buyers and the n paid Romero for the cocaine. In the hotel room, Romero told Varela that he was dissatisfied with the time it took for Flores to find buyers and asked Varela to “start finding buyers . . . for cocaine and stuff like that.” Varela Plea Tr. at 14

. Varelaand Romero also discussed the process of smuggling cocaine from California to Kansas City. Varela then left the hotel room. A month later, on the evening o f January 19, 19 96, Varela’s brother, Erasmo Garcia Lajam, asked Varela to drive him to the airport in Kansas City to pick up Romero and Donald Baxter, Romero’s partner. Varela agreed. Afterward, Varela, Lajam, Romero, and Baxter went o ut to a restaurant and bar and began drinking. Over the course of the evening, Varela learned that th e other three planned to meet a courier named Edgard Duarte at an Amtrak station early the n ext morning and pick up approximately 18 kilograms of cocaine. At one point , they asked Varela if he would procure buyers for the cocaine. Varela then asked a man in the bar if he wanted to buy cocaine, and the man agreed to buy two kilograms.
Alt hough the four men did not know it, Duarte, the courier, had been arreste d earlie r that day on an Amtrak train in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the 21.2 8 kilograms of cocaine he was transporting to Kansas City had been seized. Duarte-3-

agreed to cooperate with the Drug Enforcement Agency in a controlled delivery o f cocai ne to Romero and Baxter. At 6:30 the next morning, Varela drove Romero , Lajam, and Baxter to the Amtrak station in Ka nsas City. Baxter went inside the station to m eet the courier while the other three waited in Varela’s car. Baxter wa s app rehended by DEA agents after he entered the station, and Lajam, Romero, an d Varela were arrested in the parking lot. At the guilty-plea hearing Varela told the court that although he did not intend to distribute all of the cocaine he and the other three men were to pick up at the Amtrak stat ion, he knowingly joined a group that was going to sell five or more kilograms o f cocaine. Varela explained that while he did not know exactly how much cocaine he , Baxter, Rome ro, and Lajam were to pick up at the train station, he knew that it wa s “abo ut 18 kilos” and that “I thought 18 kilos wasn’t that much, the way that they was talking.” Varela Plea Tr. at 15, 21. At Varela’s sentencing hearing, the District Court calculate d a total offense level of 30 and a criminal history category of IV, for a Sente ncing Guidelines range of 135 to 168 months. The Court then sentenced Varela to 135 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by five years’ supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. Varela Sen tencing Tr. at 65, 69. The offense level of 30 was based on the District Court’s finding that Varela was responsible for all 21 kilograms of cocaine seize d from the drug courier on January 19. Id. at 51. Varela now appeals the c alculation of his offense level, arguing that he should be responsible only for two kilograms o f cocaine, and that the District Court failed to make adequate factua l findings to support the sentence.
II.
The se ntence in this case is governed by U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3, having to do wit h “relevant conduct.” In brief, the base offense level is determined on the basis of acts committed

by the defendant himself, § 1B1.3(a)(1)(A), and, in the case of a jointl y undertaken criminal activity , all reasonably foreseeable acts and omissions of others in-4-

furtherance of the jointly undertaken cri minal activity, § 1B1.3(a)(1)(B). In the present case, the District Court did not specifically refer to either subparagraph (A) o r subparagraph (B) w hen holding Varela accountable for 21 kilograms of cocaine. It is, however, well establ ished that we may affirm a sentence on any grounds supported by the record. See United States v. Strange , 102 F. 3d 356, 360 n.4 (8th Cir. 1996). In the case of a conspiracy to transport and convey narcotics, all members of the conspiracy are directly accountable under subparagra ph (A) for the quantity of drugs involved. Id. at360-61. We therefore need not address the foreseeability requirement o f subparagraph (B). Under the facts of this case, Varela is clearly responsible for th e entire shipment. At the hearing, Varela admitted that he had discussed selling drugs with Romero, and that he had asked a patron at the bar if he wanted to buy cocaine from Romero

. Moreover, Varela said that on the ni ght before he drove Romero, Lajam, and Baxter to the train station, he was fully aware of the purpose of the trip: “And w e kept on drinking and e verything, and by the time about 3 o’clock came, I already knew this whol e situation, about 18 kilos stuff.” Varela Plea Tr. at 15. Because Varela admitted that he knowingly entered into a conspiracy to possess cocaine, the Distric t Court properly held him accountable for the full amount of cocaine that was to be obtained by him and by his co-conspirators. The evidence indicates that Varela expected that the shipmen t might well exceed 18 kilos, and in any event the difference between 18 and 21 is no t material for Guidelines purposes.
Affirmed. A true copy.
Attest: CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.