Opinion ID: 543785
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Base Offense Levels

Text: 19 Johnson and Ramirez challenge the amount of cocaine taken into account by the district court in determining their base offense levels. They claim they should be sentenced only on the basis of the drug amounts alleged in the indictment, which were five or more kilograms for the conspiracy to distribute count, and one kilogram for the possession with intent to distribute count. Rejecting this position, the district court, based on Casas-Torres' testimony at trial, determined that Johnson's involvement in the drug distribution conspiracy extended to nineteen kilograms of cocaine. The court sentenced Ramirez on the basis of fifty-five kilograms, which included cocaine delivered to Casas-Torres, found with people working for Ramirez, found in the California apartment, and represented by cash and money order receipts. Ramirez underscores that none of these drug amounts were found directly in his possession. 20 Under Guidelines Sec. 1B1.3, as it read at the time of Johnson's and Ramirez' sentencing, 2 the court is to determine a defendant's base offense level on the basis of relevant conduct, which includes: 21 all acts and omissions committed or aided and abetted by the defendant, or by a person for whose conduct the defendant is legally responsible, that (1) are part of the same course of conduct, or a common scheme or plan, as the offense of conviction, or (2) are relevant to the defendant's state of mind or motive in omitting the offense of conviction, or (3) indicate the defendant's degree of dependence upon criminal activity for a livelihood. 22 We have held that district courts applying the Guidelines may look beyond the allegations in the indictment. United States v. Mann, 877 F.2d 688, 690 (8th Cir.1989); United States v. Jones, 875 F.2d 674, 674-76 (8th Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 177, 107 L.Ed.2d 133 (1989). We find that the district court properly took into account quantities of cocaine not wholly accounted for in the indictment but which reliable evidence connected to Johnson and Ramirez.