Opinion ID: 397156
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the black tuna enterprise5

Text: 6 In August 1974 Lucas McLeod arranged with appellant Platshorn to ship a load of marijuana from Florida, where they resided, to appellant Meinster in Philadelphia, where he operated two dress shops which he used as fronts for his marijuana dealing. In October 1974 McLeod had 2000 pounds of marijuana trucked to Meinster in Philadelphia. One of McLeod's employees, a podiatrist named Dr. Morris Keller, was the truck driver on that occasion. Keller was also a government witness at trial. Meinster paid McLeod approximately $700,000 in installments. McLeod did not pay a brokerage fee to Platshorn because Platshorn disclosed that he was Meinster's partner. 7 McLeod later delivered two additional loads of marijuana, one of 2000 and another of 4000 pounds at $275 per pound, to Meinster in Philadelphia. McLeod informed Platshorn of the size of each of those shipments to Meinster. After the third delivery to Philadelphia, Platshorn instructed McLeod to deliver future shipments to Platshorn's residence in Miami. Two such deliveries, one of 2000 and another of 3000 pounds, were made in 1975 although Platshorn rejected the second delivery because he believed the marijuana to be of inferior quality. 8 The source of McLeod's marijuana was co-conspirator Raul Davila, a Colombian resident. Platshorn later acquired marijuana from sources other than McLeod; among them were members of the Miami Cuban community. 9 In the late spring of 1976 Platshorn leased property in Miami for the purported purpose of operating an automobile auction business. The auction was in fact intended to be a cover for the marijuana importation and distribution activities of Meinster, Platshorn and others. The auction business constantly lost money-up to $4000 weekly. Keller was hired to work at the auction, ostensibly as a general manager. Keller's actual primary responsibility was to supervise the loading of the marijuana that was stored at the auction site into customers' vehicles parked at the auction or on occasion at Platshorn's residence. Marijuana was also placed in vehicles that were delivered to customers; one such customer was appellant Myers. 10 In June 1976 Platshorn hired Raymond Jiminez as the comptroller for the auction. Jiminez was a central government witness at trial. Numerous marijuana transactions were completed in Platshorn's office at the auction. Jiminez became acquainted with a number of persons, including appellants Myers and Echezarreta, who came to the auction to engage in marijuana transactions. 11 By mid-1976 Platshorn and Meinster had a flourishing importation and distribution business. Appellant Fisher worked as a pilot for vessels which offloaded marijuana from mother ships on the high seas and delivered it to American shores. Fisher allegedly received $100,000 for each such pilotage effort made for the Platshorn-Meinster enterprise. Appellant Grant worked for Platshorn and Meinster as a security chief in charge of protecting the cargos of marijuana. Most of the enterprise's marijuana, until the summer of 1976, was obtained from a Latin-American organization based in Miami. 12 In the fall of 1976 Platshorn went to Colombia and personally arranged with Davila to import marijuana directly from Colombia. The cost for obtaining the marijuana was approximately $60 per pound. The first shipment, totalling 1100 pounds, was delivered directly from Davila to the auction in the fall of 1976. Delivery preceded Platshorn's return from Colombia; after Meinster forwarded payment for the shipment, Platshorn was able to leave Colombia. 6 13 Davila and the others used the code phrase Black Tuna, spoken in English or Spanish, as the signal for arriving aircraft in Colombia or for vessels rendezvousing with Davila's cargo ships on the high seas. Davila himself was referred to as the Black Tuna and eventually the enterprise came to be known as Black Tuna. Platshorn even distributed to the organization's members a medallion in the form of a dark-colored fish, worn around the neck. 14 The initial 1100-pound shipment was only a portion of the shipment that Davila had set aside for the Black Tuna organization. Platshorn, Myers, Keller and others arranged to send a plane to Colombia for the balance of the marijuana. Myers offered to furnish manpower to unload the plane after it landed at the Punta Gorda Airport near Fort Myers, Florida. Myers also indicated that for a payment of $10,000 he could keep the airport manager away while the unloading took place. By happenstance, the airport manager was not on duty when the plane arrived. Myers also stated that he wished to purchase any marijuana exceeding the amount designated for a particular customer. The plane landed on November 5, 1976; Keller supervised the successful unloading of approximately 3800 pounds of marijuana. The plane was abandoned because of engine trouble and was discovered the following day by law enforcement officers. 15 Meinster moved to Miami in early 1977. The enterprise at that time owned several yacht-sized vessels and operated out of several locations, including a suite in the Fontainebleau Hotel. In January 1977 Jiminez went to that suite to deliver a car to Myers. Upon entering the suite Jiminez saw Platshorn, Meinster, Myers, and other Black Tuna members. Large stacks of money covered a table. After asking Jiminez whether he had ever seen so much money, Myers remarked that It is not all ours yet, so don't worry about it. The Black Tuna members apparently did not hesitate to fully avail themselves of the Fontainebleau's room service; Jiminez testified that Platshorn told him that the room service bill from October 1976 to April 1977 was $66,000. 16 The enterprise used several vessels for offloading marijuana and could recycle vessels after their use because co-defendant Phillips sold boats in Fort Lauderdale. The enterprise used luxury craft rather than shrimping trawlers or other such vessels in order to attract less suspicion. 17 The Fontainebleau suite was the Black Tuna headquarters until March 1977. In April 1977 Platshorn obtained a houseboat, called BEAM'S POST TIME, which was moved into waters adjacent to the Fontainebleau, where it became the new headquarters, complete with a phone line hookup with calls being handled through the Fontainebleau's main switchboard. 18 Platshorn, Meinster and Myers also obtained interests in or established other businesses, one of which was Land-Air which leased a private airstrip at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport. Two of the planes kept on that airstrip belonged to Platshorn and Meinster. Myers was in charge of the Land-Air venture, which served as a cover for Black Tuna pilots. 19 In February 1977 Platshorn asked a real estate agent, Lawrence Richter, to locate waterfront homes or warehouses that could serve as stash houses. That same month a suitable house, with direct ocean access, garage facilities and no close neighbors, was located on San Marino Drive and was leased under a fictitious name. The house was used successfully several times for shipments of marijuana imported by Fisher. 20 In April 1977 Fisher made another delivery to the house but one of the Black Tuna members rejected the marijuana as inferior. Platshorn directed Echezarreta, the broker of the transaction, to remove the marijuana within 24 hours. Grant was to provide security until Echezarreta could locate another buyer. That same day the owner of the house telephoned Richter and informed him that she was sending a carpenter to the house. Richter in turn informed Platshorn and then went to the house where he saw marijuana stacked almost to the ceiling in the living room. Richter, at Platshorn's direction, prevented the carpenter from entering the house. 21 That same evening, while Jiminez and Myers were aboard the BEAM'S POST TIME, Myers received a number of phone calls. They went to the Fontainebleau Hotel. At 10:30 p. m. Myers had a phone conversation after which he told Jiminez that he had just advised Meinster that everything was secure at the San Marino house. San Marino was not secure for long, however. About 11:30 p. m. a suspicious neighbor called the police after observing cars and a large truck arrive at the San Marino house. Echezarreta had located a buyer for part of the marijuana, who decided to take possession at night rather than to heed Platshorn's advice to remove the marijuana during late-afternoon rush-hour time when less attention would be attracted to the loading. Upon their arrival at the house, police officers saw bundles of marijuana in the truck which was parked in the driveway and smelled marijuana from within the house. The police entered the house, arrested the occupants who had not fled, and seized 16,000 pounds of marijuana. Grant and Echezarreta escaped arrest but one of Grant's associates named Verdi did not. The next day Jiminez obtained a list of the persons arrested and phoned Meinster, who told him to obtain Verdi's release on bond because he was Grant's assistant. Because of the presence of law enforcement officers at the marina where the yacht used by Fisher to deliver the marijuana to the San Marino house was being kept, Platshorn allegedly sank the yacht. 22 The Black Tuna enterprise remained intact after the San Marino setback. In May 1977 Platshorn obtained a new waterfront property suitable for smuggling. Platshorn told Jiminez while showing him the house in June that he had used that house for storing marijuana and that 20,000 pounds had been moved in and out of the house in less than ten days. Jiminez at that time observed five or six boxes which Platshorn described as the remains of the 20,000 pound operation. 23 Other businesses collateral to the Black Tuna marijuana enterprise were planned or established. One such business was formed in order to send cars to Davila in Colombia; a Cadillac was sent in July 1977. In December 1977 Myers asked Jiminez if he could obtain a mortgage under fictitious names for certain property to be used for growing marijuana. That proposed deal was to be handled by the Green Turtle Construction Company. 24 In July 1977 co-defendant Phillips invited a friend from North Carolina, George Purvis, 7 to meet with Platshorn in Florida. Upon meeting Purvis, Platshorn revealed that he planned to import 40,000 pounds of marijuana on Labor Day and that he preferred to import into North Carolina rather than into Florida. Purvis agreed to find a suitable location. When he returned to North Carolina, Purvis was informed that the vessel to be used by the Black Tuna organization was the PRESIDENTIAL, an 85-foot yacht that Platshorn had purchased from Phillips for $250,000 in cash. Purvis obtained North Carolina registration papers in a fictitious name for the PRESIDENTIAL and sent the papers to Phillips. Phillips revealed to Purvis that the Black Tuna organization had an income of about $12,000,000 the previous year, that it owned five vessels, and that it was capable of monitoring Drug Enforcement Administration broadcasts. 25 In late August Platshorn and Phillips met Purvis in North Carolina and selected a landing site from the alternative sites that had been chosen by Purvis. Platshorn confirmed Phillips' statement regarding earnings of $12,000,000 the past year from the smuggling operation. Purvis obtained trucks and workers for the offloading. 26 Myers organized the crew for the voyage of the yacht the PRESIDENTIAL, which was his first transaction as a full partner in the Black Tuna organization. Fisher and Echezarreta had each refused to serve as captain of the vessel. After taking on 36,000 pounds of marijuana on the high seas, the PRESIDENTIAL went aground near Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. Water had entered a porthole that had been opened by a crew member who had overindulged in his use of cocaine, and the bilge pumps had failed to work. 27 Black Tuna members made several efforts to retrieve the marijuana from the PRESIDENTIAL. Grant flew to Abaco intending to drop a new bilge pump, but he was unable to make the drop. Fisher was dispatched aboard the BIG GLO II with directions from Platshorn to recover as much marijuana as possible from the PRESIDENTIAL. Fisher removed several bales in one attempt. In a later attempt on September 3, Fisher and two accomplices were foiled by four Bahamian police officers who were concealed inside the PRESIDENTIAL. Fisher and his accomplices returned to the BIG GLO II, which later struck a reef as it fled. Its crew was seen discarding bales into the water. Fisher later told Jiminez that he had rescued two bales and showed him some marijuana which he said came from those two bales. 28 The Black Tuna organization lost $1 million in the PRESIDENTIAL incident. A search of the PRESIDENTIAL revealed 745 bales of marijuana, a receipt for the BIG GLO II, and papers relating to the Green Turtle Construction Company. 29 In September 1977 Meinster and Purvis made plans to deliver marijuana from Davila's vessel, the mothership DON ELIAS, to North Carolina. Purvis contacted Wade Bailey, captain of the OSSPREY, 8 about obtaining a vessel for performing the transfer from the DON ELIAS on the high seas. Bailey was a confidential informant for the government. Purvis suspected that Bailey was an informant but needed the OSSPREY because Purvis' own vessel had been damaged on a trial run in preparation for the importation via the DON ELIAS. Meinster advised Purvis to double Bailey's payment to $100,000, believing that the government could not meet that price. Grant had another suggestion: shoot him. Grant rented a building for storage of the marijuana. 30 After the OSSPREY took on a cargo of marijuana from the DON ELIAS on the high seas, the DON ELIAS was seized by federal authorities. Purvis' associates were arrested but Purvis fled to Florida where he lived for a time on the BEAM'S POST TIME. 31 As the result of a drug deal arranged by Jiminez, in which Echezarreta was the broker, a financial dispute between Echezarreta and some of his Colombian clients arose. Myers informed Jiminez that he had learned of a rip-off in the deal and that Echezarreta would be required to answer to certain Colombians for the loss. As a result of the incident Platshorn and Myers stopped speaking to each other for a time. Also, Platshorn criticized Echezarreta concerning the deal. 32 Shortly thereafter Platshorn fired Jiminez as comptroller of the auto auction and Jiminez went to work for Myers in his lobster business on the west coast of Florida. Myers' active participation in the Black Tuna organization diminished although he continued to operate Land-Air. Additionally, in December 1977 Myers succeeded in resolving the financial dispute between Echezarreta and the Colombians. 33 On January 2, 1978, a courier of a smuggler from Tampa who had just imported 40,000 pounds of marijuana came to Platshorn's house with a sample, a 50-pound bag. Platshorn and Purvis inspected and sampled the marijuana. Platshorn found it to be acceptable in quality and purchased that bag but declined to buy the remainder of the load because he felt that he had been insulted by the courier's demand for immediate payment. 34 In January 1978 Grant, Purvis and Platshorn arranged several unsuccessful attempts to import marijuana directly from Davila in Colombia. On one occasion Purvis and two crew members flew to Colombia where they contacted Davila. After Purvis returned from Colombia he surrendered to federal authorities and thereafter agreed to cooperate with DEA agents. Purvis then went to work at the auction. In March 1978 Purvis again flew to Colombia to retrieve two Black Tuna pilots who had been ransomed from the army by Davila. 35 The numerous issues presented upon this appeal will be discussed in what we consider to be an orderly sequence. 36