Opinion ID: 778180
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sentences Premised on Cocaine Base Rather Than Marijuana

Text: 92 Defendants also contend that because they were convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine base and marijuana, they are entitled to have their sentences calculated on the basis of the controlled substance that carries the more lenient statutorily prescribed sentence, i.e., marijuana. We reject this contention. 93 Ordinarily if the jury returns a general verdict of guilty on a conspiracy count involving more than one controlled substance and does not indicate on which controlled substance it based its verdict, we will assume that the conviction was for the substance that carries the most lenient statutorily prescribed sentence for which the evidence was sufficient to support a conviction. See United States v. Barnes, 158 F.3d 662, 668 (2d Cir.1998); United States v. Orozco-Prada, 732 F.2d 1076, 1083 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 845, 105 S.Ct. 154, 83 L.Ed.2d 92 (1984). In the present case, however, the jury's verdict of guilty against each defendant on counts one and two was accompanied by a finding that the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt that each that defendant conspired to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Thus, there is no possibility that the jury might have found any defendant guilty of conspiring to deal only in marijuana. It was appropriate for the district court to sentence defendants in accordance with the penalties for trafficking in crack cocaine rather than those for marijuana. 94