Opinion ID: 600741
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Conditional Plea

Text: 29 Following the denial of Perea's suppression motion, Perea and Ortiz were tried in a four-day trial. Perea was convicted on all counts. The jury acquitted Ortiz on the conspiracy count and cocaine possession count, and was unable to reach a verdict on the marijuana possession count. 30 Perea then moved for a new trial on the ground that he and Ortiz should not have been tried together because they had raised inconsistent defenses. After the district court indicated that it was inclined to grant the motion, the government and Perea entered into a plea-and-cooperation agreement. Perea was to be allowed to enter a conditional plea of guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and an unspecified quantity of cocaine, which carried a lower penalty than the more-than-500-gram cocaine conspiracy charged in the indictment. Ortiz eventually pleaded guilty to the marijuana possession count, and Perea testified for the government at a Fatico hearing held with respect to the sentencing of Ortiz (United States v. Fatico, 603 F.2d 1053, 1057 & n. 9 (2d Cir.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1073, 100 S.Ct. 1018, 62 L.Ed.2d 755 (1980); United States v. Fatico, 579 F.2d 707, 713 (2d Cir.1978)). 31 Thereafter, with the approval of the court, Perea entered a conditional plea of guilty to the lesser conspiracy charge, reserving the right to appeal the denial of his suppression motion. Though the imprisonment range recommended by the federal Sentencing Guidelines for the offense to which Perea eventually pleaded guilty was 51-63 months, in light of his cooperation he was sentenced, as indicated above, to 16 months' imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. This appeal followed.