Opinion ID: 572644
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Issues Raised by Cappas

Text: 12 Cappas first argues that his conviction for engaging in a CCE must be reversed because the district court improperly instructed the jury on the elements of the offense, specifically, the number of conspirators required to constitute in concert criminal activity. Cappas maintains that the district court erred by refusing to give an instruction he tendered that would have required the jury to find that Cappas supervised five or more persons simultaneously in order to be found guilty of engaging in a CCE. 13 The refusal to give an instruction tendered by the defendant is not error if the instruction is not a correct statement of the law. United States v. Anderson, 798 F.2d 919, 925 (7th Cir.1986). To prove that a defendant engaged in a CCE, the government must show that the defendant (1) committed a predicate offense by violating one of certain specified drug laws (2) as part of a continuing series of drug law violations, (3) committed while acting in concert with five or more persons (4) over whom the defendant exercised managerial or supervisory control, and (5) from which the defendant obtained substantial income or resources. United States v. Sophie, 900 F.2d 1064, 1077 (7th Cir.1990). See also 21 U.S.C. § 848. 14 Cappas' argument involves the third element, the in concert requirement. Cappas claims that the government must prove that he managed or supervised at least five persons at the same time, and thus the government may not rely on evidence that five or more persons were involved at various times during the course of the enterprise. Cappas maintains that it is not sufficient to show that he supervised two or three people at one time, and then three or four different people at another time in order to sustain a CCE conviction. 15 Cappas' argument is without support. Every circuit that has considered the argument has rejected it. See United States v. Jenkins, 904 F.2d 549, 553-54 (10th Cir.1990); United States v. Ricks, 882 F.2d 885, 891 (4th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1047, 110 S.Ct. 846, 107 L.Ed.2d 841 (1990); United States v. Fernandez, 822 F.2d 382, 386 (3rd Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 963, 108 S.Ct. 450, 98 L.Ed.2d 391 (1987); United States v. Boldin, 818 F.2d 771, 775-76 (11th Cir.1987); United States v. Lueth, 807 F.2d 719, 731 (8th Cir.1986); United States v. Burt, 765 F.2d 1364, 1366 (9th Cir.1985); United States v. Young, 745 F.2d 733, 747 (2d Cir.1984), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1084, 105 S.Ct. 1842, 85 L.Ed.2d 142 (1985); United States v. Phillips, 664 F.2d 971, 1034 (5th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1136, 102 S.Ct. 2965, 73 L.Ed.2d 1354 (1982). Closer to home, in United States v. Bond, 847 F.2d 1233 (7th Cir.1988), this court declared that action in concert with five persons simultaneously is not required: 16 [t]he statute speaks of acting in concert with five persons; it does not say the same five continuously.... The question is whether [the defendant] acted in concert with five as manager or coordinator. It is on this question that the tenure of office of the staff is irrelevant. That [the defendant] barked orders to [one underling] on Monday and [another underling] on Tuesday, while tossing bales of marijuana to his brother on Wednesday--and that the underlings of the organization may have been here today and gone tomorrow--does not detract from the extent of [the defendant's] coordinating role. 17 Id. at 1237. 18 Cappas tries to twist the meaning of Bond to support his argument. In Bond, we noted that the CCE statute is intended to combat large criminal organizations, and was not intended to apply to a small-time drug dealer who uses one courier in January, a second in February, and so on, until five couriers have taken part. Bond, 847 F.2d at 1237. Cappas seizes on this point and argues that the government must prove simultaneous supervision of five people, none of whom are replacements for others who have left the enterprise. But such a position is not an accurate reading of Bond. As the excerpted language demonstrates, Bond dismissed as irrelevant the possibility that underlings came and went, in light of the defendant's role as manager and coordinator of a larger criminal organization. 19 Cappas also relies on Jeffers v. United States, 432 U.S. 137, 147-49 and n. 14, 97 S.Ct. 2207, 2214-15 and n. 14, 53 L.Ed.2d 168 (1977), and United States v. Jefferson, 714 F.2d 689, 705 (7th Cir.1983), appeal following remand, 760 F.2d 821 (7th Cir.), vacated and remanded, 474 U.S. 806, 106 S.Ct. 41, 88 L.Ed.2d 34 (1985), on remand, 782 F.2d 697 (7th Cir.1986). Among other things, these two cases stand for the proposition that the in concert requirement of § 848 requires proof of an agreement among the persons involved in the continuing criminal enterprise. Cappas maintains that this requirement implies that the CCE defendant must supervise the five other people simultaneously at at least one point in time. Cappas' Brief at 11. Without this simultaneity, Cappas argues, there cannot exist the necessary conspiracy between the defendant and the five other persons whom he supervises. 20 But, again, Cappas misreads the case law. There is nothing in Jeffers or Jefferson that could be read to require simultaneity. Instead, as Jeffers informs us, the in concert element merely implies an agreement in a design or plan. Jeffers, 432 U.S. at 149, 97 S.Ct. at 2215. It is sufficient to prove that the CCE defendant had a conspiratorial agreement with each of the five underlings. It is not required that the five act in concert with each other. We have previously summarized the government's burden of proof on section 848: 21 The government need not establish that the defendant managed five people at once, that the five acted in concert with each other, that the defendant exercised the same kind of control over each of the five, or even that the defendant had personal contact with each of the five. 22 United States v. Moya-Gomez, 860 F.2d 706, 746 (7th Cir.1988) (quoting United States v. Possick, 849 F.2d 332, 335-36 (8th Cir.1988)). The instruction tendered by Cappas requiring simultaneous supervision by a CCE defendant did not state the law correctly, and the district court, therefore, properly refused it. 23 Because the district court imposed concurrent sentences for his convictions on counts one and two, the CCE and conspiracy charges, Cappas next argues that these multiple sentences, even though concurrent, violate the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Cappas primarily relies on our opinion in Jefferson, where we stated: 24 If § 846 [conspiracy] is a lesser-included offense of § 848 [CCE], the conviction and sentence imposed for the lesser-included offense must be vacated.... [W]e hold that § 846 is a lesser-included offense of § 848. Appellant's § 846 conviction and sentence will be vacated. 25 714 F.2d at 703, 705. Undoubtedly, our language here is clear. If Jefferson is still good law, then Cappas' § 846 conviction and sentence must be overturned. 26 Although the opinion has never been overruled formally, Jefferson simply does not govern any longer. To understand the rather confusing progression of Jefferson (hereinafter Jefferson I) and its subsequent history--and, we hope, to resolve once and for all (or at least until the Supreme Court directs otherwise) any confusion regarding multiple sentences under §§ 846 and 848--we shall trace the development of the law of conspiracy and CCE convictions. 27 Our story begins with the Supreme Court's decision in Jeffers, in which the Court declared that cumulative penalties for §§ 848 and 846 are prohibited by the Double Jeopardy Clause. 432 U.S. at 157, 97 S.Ct. at 2220. By cumulative punishment, however, Jeffers refers to consecutive sentences--in Jeffers, the defendant had been sentenced to prison terms and fines on both conspiracy and CCE counts, the sentences to run consecutively. The Supreme Court determined that by making the fines consecutive, the total fine imposed exceeded the statutory maximum for either offense. Thus, the defendant was entitled to have the CCE fine reduced so that the total fine was within the maximum limits. Id. at 154-58, 97 S.Ct. at 2218-20. The Court did not disturb the imposition of consecutive prison terms, however. The statutory maximum term under the CCE charge is life; consecutive sentences could not exceed that limit. 28 After the Court's pronouncements in Jeffers came our opinion in Jefferson I. As we have discussed, Jefferson I held that the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment precludes convictions on both conspiracy and CCE charges. Because the district court sentenced Jefferson to concurrent penalties for the CCE and conspiracy charges, we remanded the cause for resentencing consistent with our opinion. In the appeal following remand, see United States v. Jefferson, 760 F.2d 821 (7th Cir.1985) (Jefferson II), we affirmed the district court's imposition of a single sentence for the defendant's CCE conviction. That decision, however, was vacated by the Supreme Court and remanded. See Jefferson v. United States, 474 U.S. 806, 106 S.Ct. 41, 88 L.Ed.2d 34 (1985). The basis for the remand was the Court's recent opinion in Garrett v. United States, 471 U.S. 773, 105 S.Ct. 2407, 85 L.Ed.2d 764 (1985). There the Court held that the language, structure and legislative history ... show in the plainest way that Congress intended ... [the CCE charge] to be a separate criminal offense.... Id. at 779, 105 S.Ct. at 2412. Thus, the Court affirmed Garrett's sentence which included concurrent sentences for CCE and conspiracy convictions. 29 Following Garrett, we concluded in United States v. Jefferson, 782 F.2d 697 (7th Cir.1986) (Jefferson III), that the sentence originally imposed by the district court--concurrent prison terms for the defendant's CCE and conspiracy convictions--was permissible. We declared 30 [U]nder Garrett, the sentence originally imposed on Jefferson fully comports with the requirements of the Double Jeopardy Clause. It follows that the original sentence should never have been set aside. Although we are not authorized to vacate [Jefferson I ], we conclude that that decision has been overruled by Garrett and no longer has force and effect. 31 Id. at 701. Apparently with this reasoning in mind (though we neglected to cite the Jefferson decisions explicitly), we held in United States v. Bond, 847 F.2d 1233 (7th Cir.1988), that 32 it is not illogical to convict a person of both agreeing to do something (§ 846) and succeeding on a grand scale (§ 848).... The most that one can say is that the conspiracy is a lesser included offense of the CCE. That holding--coupled with the conclusion in Garrett--supports the conclusion that a court may impose concurrent sentences for a conspiracy and the CCE offense. 33 Id. at 1238-39. 34 Since Bond, we have made clear that Jefferson I no longer represents governing law in this circuit. See United States v. Moya-Gomez, 860 F.2d 706, 754 (7th Cir.1988) ([T]he effect of the holding in Bond was to overrule the court's previous holding in Jefferson....); United States v. Alvarez, 860 F.2d 801, 830 n. 31 (7th Cir.1988) ([Bond ] apparently overruled sub silentio that part of [Jefferson I ] that required the vacation of both the conviction and sentence for conspiracy when the defendant was also convicted of the CCE offense.). We are left, then, with the following principle from Jeffers and its confusing progeny: concurrent sentences may be imposed under § 846 (conspiracy) and § 848 (CCE), provided, as Jeffers held, that the defendant does not receive cumulative penalties for these two offenses. By cumulative penalties, we mean that the court may not impose double punishment, see Alvarez, 860 F.2d at 830-31 n. 31, or, as we articulated more exactly in Bond, the punishment may not exceed the maximum under the CCE act. 847 F.2d at 1239. Perhaps we most clearly explained our logic in United States v. Pace, 898 F.2d 1218 (7th Cir.1990): 35 CCE and conspiracy, while not the same, are similar crimes. Both punish agreements to commit crimes (such as running a drug enterprise); CCE, unlike conspiracy, also punishes the agreement's success. Most important, CCE, like an ongoing conspiracy, involves continuing conduct. Thus, there is no reason not to apply to a CCE conviction the general principle that an increased penalty may apply to a continuing crime.... [But] the district judge should keep in mind that he may not take the conspiracy conviction into account when sentencing [the defendant] on the CCE count. The judge may impose a [separate,] concurrent prison sentence for the conspiracy count. 36 Id. at 1238 (citations omitted). 37 In the instant case, the district court, applying the United States Sentencing Guidelines (the Guidelines) imposed concurrent sentences of thirty years for Counts One and Two, the CCE and conspiracy convictions. Cappas, citing Jefferson I, argues that multiple sentences for convictions of CCE and conspiracy charges, even concurrent ones, violate the Double Jeopardy Clause. From our exposition of the case law, it is clear that Cappas' claims must fail. Cappas clings to the mere fact that Jefferson I was not formally overruled, and neglects to give proper weight to the subsequent history of Jefferson I, or to the host of more recent cases in which we have declared explicitly that that opinion no longer has force or effect. Thus, concurrent sentences for Cappas' convictions of CCE and conspiracy are indeed permissible. See Moya-Gomez, 860 F.2d at 754. 38 Nevertheless, the district court's particular application of the Guidelines requires closer examination. From the record before us, it appears that the district court essentially adopted the sentencing recommendations of the government's presentence investigation report (PSI). See Transcript of Proceeding, Cappas Sentencing (Cappas Trans.), at 20-27. The PSI aggregated the various counts against Cappas into four different divisions: the drug counts category, two extortion categories, and the filing of false tax return category. Cappas challenges the sentence imposed on the drug counts. He claims that the district court impermissibly lumped the conspiracy sentence with Cappas' CCE sentence--in other words, that the district court stepped over the line that permits concurrent sentences for conspiracy and CCE convictions but does not allow double punishment. 39 We agree. Given the nature of the case law, it is not surprising that the district court may have been uncertain about how exactly to impose sentence on both CCE and conspiracy convictions. Nevertheless, we are convinced that the court neglected to consider the exhortations from Jeffers, Bond, Alvarez, and Pace--cases that stand for the proposition that, although concurrent sentences are indeed permissible and, in this case, highly appropriate, conspiracy is still a lesser-included offense to CCE and, thus, Cappas should not take a bigger hit for the conspiracy than for the CCE. 40 Given that the district court grouped the conspiracy and CCE convictions into one category and then applied the Guidelines, it seems clear that the Cappas' conspiracy sentence affected the CCE sentence in clear violation of Alvarez. In Alvarez, we vacated concurrent CCE and conspiracy sentences because there existed the distinct possibility that the district court may have considered [the defendant's] guilt on the conspiracy conviction in sentencing him on the CCE conviction. 860 F.2d at 830-31. In the instant case, the district court committed the same error. 41 The court determined Cappas' sentence by starting with the Guidelines' base offense level of 34, based on the quantity of drugs proved at this trial in the course of this conspiracy and this continuing criminal enterprise.... Cappas Trans. at 13. See also Cappas Trans. at 20 (So, base offense level, based on that quantity and based on the compilation of counts, we start at 34.). To this base figure, the court added a four level enhancement for Cappas' role in the offense. The court declared, [T]here is an increase by four levels based on the fact that Mr. Cappas was the organizer and leader of criminal activities. Cappas Trans. at 23. Two more levels were added for obstruction of justice, resulting in the adjusted offense level of 40. Because there were no aggravating circumstances arising from Cappas' record of past criminal convictions, the court assigned Cappas the Criminal History Category of I. See Cappas Trans. at 26. This calculus--the Adjusted Offense Level of 40 and the Criminal History Category I--placed Cappas in the Guideline sentencing range of 292 to 365 months imprisonment. The district court then imposed concurrent sentences of 365 months for the CCE and conspiracy convictions. 42 Had the district court not aggregated the CCE and conspiracy convictions, the application of the Guidelines may have resulted in a different sentence. If we focus solely on the CCE charge, Cappas' base offense level would be 32. 1 Such a base level in Criminal History Category I dictates a sentencing range of 121 to 151 months. If we add the two level increase for obstruction of justice, raising Cappas' offense level to 34, the sentencing range becomes 151 to 188 months--still a far cry from the 365 months actually imposed for the CCE charge. We note that under § 2D1.5 of the Guidelines, the district court is prohibited expressly from enhancing the CCE adjusted offense level for Cappas' role in the offense, because the substance of the CCE offense embraces the notion that the defendant supervised a large-scale criminal operation. 43 The government does not dispute that Cappas received a far longer sentence than that permitted by the Guidelines for the CCE offense. Its sole response is that this increase is permitted by Bond because the sentence Cappas received for the CCE and conspiracy convictions was less than the statutory maximum of life imprisonment. Yet, the government's argument neglects a key distinction. Bond was a non-Guidelines case in which the maximum permissible sentence under a CCE conviction was life imprisonment. It is not surprising that Bond spoke only of statutory maxima. Bond did not suggest that in a Guidelines case, the permissibility of a given penalty for CCE is to be determined by whether it exceeds life imprisonment. This case is governed by the Guidelines which, as the Court declared in Mistretta v. United States, 488 U.S. 361, 109 S.Ct. 647, 102 L.Ed.2d 714 (1989), are a mandatory system that bind[s] judges and courts in the exercise of their uncontested responsibility to pass sentence in criminal cases. Id. at 367, 368-69, 391, 109 S.Ct. at 652, 652-53, 664. As Justice Scalia stated, While the products of the Sentencing Commission have been given the modest name 'Guidelines,' they have the force and effect of laws, prescribing the sentences criminal defendants are to receive. A judge who disregards them will be reversed. Id. at 413, 109 S.Ct. at 676 (dissenting opinion). 44 By imposing concurrent 365-month sentences for CCE and conspiracy, the district court impermissibly considered Cappas' conspiracy conviction when sentencing him for the CCE conviction. Put simply, Cappas' sentences for CCE and conspiracy exceed the allowable limit established by law. (We note that where the amount of narcotics involved in the CCE exceeds a prescribed level, § 2D1.5(a)(3) of the Guidelines mandates life imprisonment. The amount of drugs involved in the Cappas CCE did not approach that level and, thus, life imprisonment is not the appropriate yardstick by which to measure the permissibility of Cappas' sentence.) Therefore, we vacate Cappas' sentence and remand the cause to the district court for resentencing. On remand, we know that the district court will give careful consideration to both the CCE and conspiracy convictions, keeping in mind that concurrent punishment for CCE and conspiracy is not prohibited so long as that punishment does not exceed that which is authorized for the greater CCE offense. 45 Cappas' remaining claims on appeal deserve far less attention. Count Twenty-Nine alleged that, on October 17, 1987, Cappas carried a firearm during, and in relation to, a drug trafficking offense, namely, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1). He argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the guilty verdict on that count because it showed only that Cappas had the gun with him when he went to make a payment to one of his sources, and did not show that he used the gun in relation to a drug trafficking offense. Cappas also claims that the district court's instruction on count twenty-nine was inadequate to inform the jury of the evidence necessary to satisfy the in relation to requirement. Neither claim has merit. 46 In challenging the sufficiency of the evidence that supports the verdict, Cappas carries a heavy burden. The evidence will be viewed in the light most favorable to the government, and the conviction must be affirmed if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). See also United States v. Muehlbauer, 892 F.2d 664, 667 (7th Cir.1990). 47 Viewing the evidence in this light, it is clear that Cappas cannot satisfy his burden. All that is required to support a conviction under § 924(c)(1) is that the defendant be shown to have possessed or had control of a firearm during the commission of the underlying crime, and that the circumstances of the case show that the firearm facilitated or had a role in the crime, such as emboldening an actor who had the opportunity to display or discharge the weapon to protect himself or intimidate others.... United States v. Vasquez, 909 F.2d 235, 239 (7th Cir.1990) (quoting United States v. Stewart, 779 F.2d 538, 540 (9th Cir.1985)), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 867, 108 S.Ct. 192, 98 L.Ed.2d 144 (1987). 48 Although § 924(c)(1) does not apply to the defendant who fortuitously has a gun when he commits an entirely unrelated crime, it does apply when the trier of fact reasonably could conclude that the defendant had the gun to protect drugs or money in his possession, whether or not there was an immediate likelihood of danger. See Vasquez, 909 F.2d at 240 (It was certainly logical for the trial judge to conclude that under the circumstances Vasquez had an evident need for weaponry that was readily available in the event a covetous competitor or a group of government agents arrived to appropriate his hoard.). See also United States v. LaGuardia, 774 F.2d 317, 321 (8th Cir.1985) (weapon had undoubted utility in the protection of the valuable supply and of the cash on hand). 49 We hold that the jury reasonably could conclude that the nine-millimeter pistol that Cappas carried in his gym bag when he went to pay one of his suppliers indeed was used in relation to drug trafficking. The evidence established that, on October 17, 1987, Cappas brought the gym bag, containing the gun, with him into his apartment where he counted out $10,000 in cash. When he left the apartment, Cappas again took the gun with him as he and one of his distributors drove to meet the supplier in order to deliver the cash. This kind of behavior demonstrates both Cappas' appreciation of the unforeseen ways that danger can confront a drug dealer and his desire to have a gun handy at all times to protect himself and his hoard of cash or drugs. The evidence, then, is sufficient to support the verdict. 50 As far as the district court's instruction is concerned, we note simply that the given instruction tracked the statutory language and required the jury to find that defendant John Cappas carried a firearm during and in relation to the offense charged in Count II. Transcript of Proceeding at Trial (Trial Trans.) at 3731. This instruction is adequate to inform the jury that it must find a relationship between the gun and the underlying drug offense. United States v. Malin, 908 F.2d 163, 167 (7th Cir.1990). An instruction explaining the in relation to element may be given if the defendant asks for it, but it is not required. Id. at 167-68. The phrase 'in relation to' speaks for itself; any further explanation is superfluous. Id. at 168. In the instant case, Cappas neither objected to the instruction as given, nor tendered an explanatory instruction further describing the in relation to element in greater detail. We hold that the district court's instruction was proper. 51 We summarily dispose of Cappas' remaining claims. Cappas argues that applying the Guidelines to continuing offenses that straddle the effective date violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of Article I, Sections 9, 10. That argument has been rejected by this court, and every other circuit that has decided the question. See United States v. Fazio, 914 F.2d 950, 958-59 and n. 14 (7th Cir.1990) (collecting cases). Cappas also claims that the district court erred by enhancing his offense level for obstruction of justice, and refusing to adjust his offense level for acceptance of responsibility. We offer two responses: first, Cappas has waived these claims by failing to object either to the probation officer's recommendation or to the district court's finding at the sentencing hearing (see United States v. Pritchett, 898 F.2d 130, 131 (11th Cir.1990)); and second, there was ample evidence to support the district court's findings, which are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard. See United States v. Brown, 900 F.2d 1098, 1101 (7th Cir.1990). We note that the adjustment for acceptance of responsibility cannot apply when there also has been an adjustment for obstruction of justice, unless there are extraordinary circumstances. See Guideline 3E1.1, Application Note 4. See also United States v. Reynolds, 900 F.2d 1000, 1005 (7th Cir.1990). No such circumstances exist in this case. Finally, we note that the Guidelines do not, as Cappas argues, violate due process. See United States v. Pinto, 875 F.2d 143 (7th Cir.1989). Any remaining claims offered by Cappas simply are without merit.