Opinion ID: 2658283
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Akins

Text: By special verdict, the jury attributed to Akins five kilograms or more of cocaine, 50 grams or more of cocaine base, and less than 50 grams of marijuana. 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) provides that a violation involving 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, or 280 grams or more of crack, is subject to a statutory punishment of ten years to life imprisonment. Where a person commits a violation of this section after two or more prior convictions for felony drug offenses, the offender “shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment without release.”58 Section 841(b)(1)(B), on the other hand, provides for a minimum term of ten years and a maximum term of life imprisonment for a violation involving 28 grams or more of crack for a defendant with prior convictions for felony drug offenses. The Government filed an Information of Sentence Enhancement which indicated that it sought to enhance Akins’ sentence pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 841 and § 851 based on two felony convictions for “Manufacture/Delivery Controlled Substance,” committed on December 17, 1998 and December 18, 1999. 56 Brito, 136 F.3d at 415 (citing United States v. Puig-Infante, 19 F.3d 929, 942 (5th Cir.1994)); U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3(a)(1). 57 United States v. Turner, 319 F.3d 716, 722 (5th Cir. 2003) (quoting Derman v. United States, 298 F.3d 34, 42–43 (1st Cir. 2002)). 58 Id. 30 Case: 12-40515 Document: 00512575405 Page: 31 Date Filed: 03/27/2014 No. 12-40515 Here, the jury’s finding that Akins was responsible for five kilograms or more of powder cocaine, together with Akins’ two prior convictions, makes him eligible for a mandatory life sentence without parole under § 841(b)(1)(A). Nevertheless, Akins argues that the sentencing judge set aside the jury’s finding that Akins was responsible for five kilograms of powder cocaine and instead sentenced Akins in accordance with the judge’s own finding that Akins was responsible for 280 grams or more of crack cocaine, which was in excess of the jury’s attribution of 50 grams of crack cocaine to both Akins and the conspiracy as a whole and which triggered a higher mandatory sentence, in violation of Booker. We agree with Akins that the sentencing judge was in error insofar as he looked to a crack cocaine calculation that was in excess of the jury’s finding and that would trigger a higher sentence than the quantity found by the jury–in this case, the higher mandatory life sentence triggered by 280 grams of crack cocaine rather than the ten years to life sentence that accompanies 50 grams for a repeat offender. But we are not persuaded after a careful reading of the sentencing transcript that the sentencing judge set aside or otherwise disregarded the jury’s finding that Akins was responsible for five kilograms or more of crack cocaine. Although the judge looked to the evidence supporting Akins’ involvement with crack cocaine pursuant to defense counsel’s “assertion that there’s absolutely no evidence to support . . . five kilograms of powder cocaine being attributed to Mr. Akins,” the judge never found the jury’s special verdict regarding powder cocaine to be unsupported by the evidence at trial. And any error committed by the sentencing judge in looking to the higher crack cocaine calculation of 280 grams is harmless under the scenario here, where the same mandatory life sentence applies to Akins pursuant to the jury’s finding that Akins and the conspiracy as a whole is responsible for five kilograms or more of powder cocaine. Having previously rejected Akins’ argument that he cannot be held responsible for the five kilograms or more of powder cocaine 31 Case: 12-40515 Document: 00512575405 Page: 32 Date Filed: 03/27/2014 No. 12-40515 distributed by the conspiracy as a whole, we affirm the district court’s sentence. ii. Marco Perkins Marco Perkins argues that the sentencing judge violated United States v. Booker59 because in calculating the Guidelines range, the judge accepted the PSR’s finding that Marco Perkins was responsible for more than 300 grams of crack cocaine–an amount in excess of the jury’s finding, by special verdict, that Perkins was responsible for less than 500 grams of powder cocaine and 50 grams or more of crack cocaine. Based on the facts found by the jury and Marco Perkins’ career criminal enhancement, the statutory minimum and maximum sentence under § 841(b)(1)(B) for 28 grams or more of crack cocaine is ten years to life. The sentencing judge adopted the facts set forth in the PSR and, based on total offense level and criminal history, found the Guidelines range in accordance with the Fair Sentencing Act to be 168 to 210 months incarceration. Marco Perkins was sentenced to 180 months. No error under the Booker line of cases occurred here. The judge’s finding that Marco Perkins was responsible for more than 300 grams of crack cocaine did not increase the maximum or the minimum penalty to which Perkins could be subjected based on the jury’s findings and Perkins’ prior convictions, as required for a violation of either Apprendi or Alleyne. The judge simply calculated an intermediate advisory Guidelines range based on his own findings, as permitted by Booker and its progeny. These findings, moreover, were supported by the evidence and not clearly erroneous, and we hold there is no basis for overturning them here.60