Opinion ID: 546890
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: gomez's sentence

Text: 46 The district court imposed consecutive sentences on Gomez for his convictions on Counts One, Two and Three. Gomez challenges on appeal the court's decision to impose consecutive rather than concurrent sentences, claiming that the facts underlying the charges against him were part of but a single conspiracy and thus that it violated double jeopardy principles for the district court to impose consecutive sentences. In response, the government concedes that the conduct charged in Counts Two and Three was part of the same conspiracy, and it consequently recommends that Gomez's conviction and sentence on Count Two be vacated. The government maintains, however, that Counts One and Three are based on separate offenses and merit consecutive sentences. 47 We first consider the question of whether the district court properly could impose consecutive sentences on Counts Two and Three. These counts both charged violations of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 952 and 963. The distinction between them is that Count Three charged a conspiracy to import cocaine, whereas Count Two charged a conspiracy to import marijuana. In determining whether two charged conspiracies that allege violations of the same substantive statute are actually the same offense for double jeopardy purposes, we consider five factors: (a) the time during which the activities occurred; (b) the persons involved; (c) the places involved; (d) whether the same evidence was used to prove the two conspiracies; and (e) whether the same statutory provision was involved in both conspiracies. United States v. Garcia-Rosa, 876 F.2d 209, 228 (1st Cir.1989), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 742, 107 L.Ed.2d 760 (1990); United States v. Booth, 673 F.2d 27, 29 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 978, 102 S.Ct. 2245, 72 L.Ed.2d 853 (1982). We examine each of these factors in turn.
48 Count Two of the indictment alleged a conspiracy [f]rom on or about March 4, 1987, up to and including March 25, 1987; Count Three alleged a conspiracy [f]rom on or about February 11, 1987, up to and including March 13, 1987. The overlap in time tends to support the existence of one continuous conspiracy.
49 A significant overlap also exists in the people involved. Count Two charged Gomez, Torres and Delfin as the conspirators; Count Three listed the same trio plus Benitez and Casanova. Moreover, Gomez was the central character in both alleged conspiracies, and Martinez was solicited to serve as the pilot of each venture. 50 That Benitez and Casanova were not indicted on Count Two does not detract from a finding that the two operations were part of one conspiracy. Benitez's role was to introduce the pilot to the conspirators. That act only had to be performed once. Casanova's role was to fuel the plane, remove the seats, and refrain from recording the plane's departure from the airport. The conspiracy alleged in Count Two never reached the stage when these services were required.
51 Both counts alleged that the conspirators planned to import drugs from La Guajira, Colombia to Puerto Rico and that all of the overt acts occurred in Puerto Rico. The identity of the places involved in the two counts tends to support the existence of one conspiracy.
52 The first overt act alleged in Count Two is that Gomez and Torres took Martinez, on March 11, to the designated landing area (drop-off site) for the plane carrying the narcotics from Colombia. The same visit was alleged as an overt act in Count Three. This duplication in overt acts also indicates that the two counts constituted one conspiracy to import illicit drugs.
53 As we noted at the outset, both Counts Two and Three alleged violations of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 952 and 963. Although the drug involved in Count Two was marijuana and that in Count Three cocaine, we do not think this distinction establishes two separate conspiracies. Rather, it suggests that when the first venture was thwarted, the conspirators simply adapted their plan to the situation. See United States v. Kalish, 690 F.2d 1144, 1151 (5th Cir.1982) (government erred in charging two conspiracies where initial venture was blocked by seizure of boat and arrest of crew but other operations continued as planned), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1108, 103 S.Ct. 735, 74 L.Ed.2d 958 (1983). 54 From all of the foregoing, we conclude that the district court erred in imposing consecutive sentences on Gomez for his convictions on Counts Two and Three. The conduct alleged in Count Two constituted no more than a continuation of the same drug conspiracy charged in Count Three, not a separate offense. Accordingly, we vacate Gomez's conviction and sentence on Count Two. In addition, we note that defendants Delfin and Torres also were convicted on both Counts Two and Three. 8 Although they received concurrent rather than consecutive sentences for their dual convictions, adverse consequences still could result from the fact that two separate convictions issued. Such consequences might include delayed eligibility for parole or the possibility of an increased sentence under a recidivist statute for a future offense. Ball v. United States, 470 U.S. 856, 865, 105 S.Ct. 1668, 1673, 84 L.Ed.2d 740 (1985). Accordingly, for the same reasons that we vacate Gomez's conviction and sentence on Count Two, we vacate the convictions and sentences of Delfin and Torres on Count Two as well. 55 We next consider whether the district court properly could impose consecutive sentences on Gomez for his convictions on Counts One and Three. As noted earlier, Count Three charged violations of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 952 and 963. Count One charged violations of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841(a) and 846. When a defendant is charged with the violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test for determining whether the two offenses are the same for double jeopardy purposes focuses on the elements of each provision and inquires 'whether each provision requires proof of a fact which the other does not.'  United States v. Garcia-Rosa, 876 F.2d at 227 (quoting Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932)). 56 Applying this test to the conspiracy offenses charged in Counts One and Three, we observe that the statutory provisions invoked in each count differ from one another in what they specify as the proscribed object of the conspiracy. Count One specifies possession with intent to distribute as the object of the conspiracy, whereas Count Three specifies importation as the ultimate objective. Because of this distinction between the two sets of statutory provisions, we conclude that consecutive sentences properly could be imposed on Counts One and Three. See Albernaz v. United States, 450 U.S. 333, 101 S.Ct. 1137, 67 L.Ed.2d 275 (1981) (convictions for conspiracy to import marijuana and conspiracy to distribute marijuana warrant consecutive sentences even though the violations arose from a single agreement with dual objectives); United States v. Davis, 809 F.2d 1194, 1205-06 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1007, 107 S.Ct. 3234, 3235, 97 L.Ed.2d 740 (1987); see also United States v. Sockwell, 699 F.2d 213, 217 (5th Cir.) (conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute and conspiracy to import marijuana are separate crimes with distinguishable statutory elements and proof requirements), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 936, 103 S.Ct. 2106, 77 L.Ed.2d 311 (1983).