UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.  No. 03-4295

ERNEST LEANDREW MAYES,

Defendant-Appellant. 

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh.

Malcolm J. Howard, District Judge.

(CR-01-99-HO)

Submitted: October 31, 2003

Decided: November 19, 2003

Before WILLIAMS and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges, and

HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. 

COUNSEL

Kelly Latham Greene, STUBBS & PERDUE, P.A., New Bern, North

Carolina, for Appellant. Anne Margaret Hayes, Assistant United

States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c). 
OPINION

PER CURIAM: 

Ernest Leandrew Mayes appeals his sentence for a violation of 21

U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) (2000). Mayes’s attorney has filed a brief in accordance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). Although

counsel states that there are no meritorious issues for appeal, he challenges the district court’s conversion of currency into its drug equivalency for sentencing purposes under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

Manual § 2D1.1. The Government has elected not to file a responding

brief. Although informed of his right to file a brief, Mayes has not

done so. In accordance with Anders, we have considered the brief and

examined the entire record for meritorious issues. Finding no error,

we affirm. 

The calculation of an amount of drugs to establish a base offense

level is a factual determination we review for clear error. United

States v. Daughtrey, 874 F.2d 213, 217-18 (4th Cir. 1989). Conversion of seized currency into drugs for the purpose of setting an

offense level is permissible. United States v. Hicks, 948 F.2d 877,

881-82 (4th Cir. 1991); U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 2D1.1,

comment. (n.12) (2002). However, it is the government’s burden to

prove by a preponderance of the evidence the connection between the

money seized and the drug-related activity. United States v. GonzalezSanchez, 953 F.2d 1184, 1187 (9th Cir. 1992). 

Mayes argues that the district court erred by converting currency

seized during a search of his residence into its drug equivalency for

sentencing purposes because the Government failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence a connection between the currency and

drug activity. We disagree. 

The money in question was located in very close proximity to

drugs, a firearm, ammunition, a digital scale with drug residue, and

cell phones, all of which were seized from Mayes’s bedroom. Furthermore, Mayes’s contention that some of the money was legitimate

employment income is not supported by the evidence. Importantly,

Social Security Administration records indicated no reported earnings

for 1998 through 2002, and the Internal Revenue Service was unable

2 UNITED STATES v. MAYES
to properly identify Mayes through the name and Social Security

number provided to his probation officer. Moreover, Mayes’s roommate, who was arrested on drug charges just prior to the search of the

residence, told police that Mayes was a "dope dealer." Even assuming

that some of the money was derived from legitimate sources, Mayes

fails to explain where all of the money came from, why he had such

a large amount of cash in his residence, or what he intended to use

the money for. Thus, we find that the Government proved by a preponderance of the evidence a connection between the currency and

the drug activity. 

We also find that the district court’s conversion was correct. The

record reveals that $32,276 in United States currency was seized from

the residence. Under the rule of leniency, the district court reduced

that amount by $5000, leaving $27,276. Based on testimony from a

special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, at

the time the currency was seized, one gram of cocaine sold for $100

and one kilogram of cocaine sold for $22,000 to $23,000. The district

court correctly determined that at $23,000 per kilogram, the seized

currency was equivalent to 1.186 kilograms of powder cocaine. The

court then added the 237.1 grams of actual powder cocaine attributed

to Mayes, resulting in a total of 1.423 kilograms of powder cocaine.

This yielded a base offense level of twenty-six. Two levels were

added for a dangerous weapon enhancement and three levels were

subtracted for acceptance of responsibility, resulting in an offense

level of twenty-five. The district court found Mayes had a criminal

history category of I. Thus, Mayes’s sentence of sixty years’ imprisonment was within the appropriate fifty-seven to seventy-one year

sentencing range. 

For these reasons, we find that the Government proved by a preponderance of the evidence the connection between the seized currency and the drug activity. We further find that the district court did

not err by converting the seized currency into its drug equivalency for

sentencing purposes and that the conversion was correct. 

In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the entire record in

this case and have found no meritorious issues for appeal. We therefore affirm Mayes’s sentence. This court requires that counsel inform

his client, in writing, of his right to petition the Supreme Court of the

UNITED STATES v. MAYES 3
United States for further review. If the client requests that a petition

be filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous,

then counsel may move in this court for leave to withdraw from representation. Counsel’s motion must state that a copy thereof was served

on the client. 

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and

argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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