Opinion ID: 198294
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ortiz-Miranda

Text: 113 In challenging his sentence, Ortiz-Miranda argues that the district court erroneously attributed 1.5 kilograms of cocaine base to him based upon extrapolating from an average dosage amount. Upon review, we conclude that the record supports the district court's determination. 114 The district court properly considered testimony concerning at least ten total cocaine base deliveries directly involving Ortiz-Miranda at the puntos in Arecibo and Vega Baja. This estimate was based upon the trial testimony of Garca-Otero and testimony at the hearing on the motion for a new trial. In addition, Ortiz-Miranda had been arrested at the Arecibo location with approximately 596 capsules of cocaine base in July 1994, and Ortiz-Baez had been arrested near there in 1995 with over 1200 capsules containing a total amount of 196 grams of cocaine base. 115 Garca-Otero testified that at least 500 capsules of cocaine base were distributed on a weekly basis in Vega Baja, and that Ortiz-Miranda made approximately six deliveries. Thus, a conservative estimate of Ortiz-Miranda's direct involvement with 6,000 capsules at the two locations would yield one kilogram of cocaine base and a higher weight of the total mixture containing it, the capsules. See USCG § 2D1.1(c)(A) (weight of a controlled substance ... refers to the weight of any mixture or substance containing [it]). In addition, the district court could reasonably infer that the additional deliveries of at least 3,000 capsules, yielding approximately another one-half kilogram of cocaine base to the Arecibo location would have been reasonably foreseeable to Ortiz-Miranda as part of the conspiracy. Here, even using a conservative estimate, the district court properly attributed 1.5 kilograms of cocaine base to Ortiz-Miranda.