Opinion ID: 2996252
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether Lopez “possessed” the gun

Text: In United States v. Singleton, this Court upheld application of the sentence enhancement when the defendants were arrested in a home they had transformed into a drug distribution center. United States v. Singleton, 125 F.3d 1097, 1109-10 (7th Cir. 1997). Inside that home, police recovered a small arsenal of six weapons, ammunition, and drugs hidden strategically throughout. Id. We held that, while no gun was found in the hands of the defendants when arrested, the sentence enhancement in § 2D1.1(b)(1) still applied because they constructively possessed the guns. Id. We have, likewise, held that the § 2D1.1(b)(1) enhancement can be applied when the defendant knows of weapons stored in a drug stash house. United States v. Brack, 188 F.3d 748, 764 (7th Cir. 1999). Here, the district court made a factual finding that the Baring Street apartment was a stash house. It was sparsely furnished, containing almost no food, few clothes, and little furniture. In fact, the only furniture consisted of a mattress, a small television, a table (upon which police found drug packing material consistent with that 10 Nos. 02-1493 & 02-1734 in Corral’s possession), and a couple of chairs, one with $14,000 taped to the bottom of it. Police also found over five pounds of marijuana as well as a small quantity of cocaine and a gun hidden in the bathroom. The district court further found that Lopez was a trusted part of this drug operation. He was left in sole possession of the apartment in order to allow Corral entry to pick up the drugs. As the sole occupant of a drug stash house on the day he was arrested, Lopez clearly had the power and intention to exercise dominion and control over the entire apartment. The gun’s location in the bathroom does not diminish Lopez’s control over it. Lopez claims that he did not know of the gun’s presence and location in the apartment and also asserts that he could not have possessed the gun because he was only in the apartment for the one-time, limited purpose of letting Corral in to pick up the drugs. The district court, however, reasonably chose not to accept Lopez’s testimony and further based application of the § 2D1.1(b)(1) enhancement on credible evidence demonstrating that Lopez actually lived in the apartment or worked in the residence on prior occasions. We too reject Lopez’s assertion that his presence in the apartment was a one-time deal. Accordingly, we find that Lopez constructively possessed the gun in question.