Opinion ID: 784866
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Special Verdict and Jury Instructions for CCE Count (Soto-Beníquez, Soto-Ramírez)

Text: 180 Soto-Beníquez and Soto-Ramírez claim that the district court committed reversible error when it failed to instruct the jury to determine the quantity and type of drugs. First, they argue that the drug amount is an element of the CCE offense and that the jury was not otherwise instructed to find a minimum drug amount. Second, they argue that Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), requires that the drug amount be proven to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt. The standard of review for alleged jury instruction errors involving the interpretation of the elements of a statutory offense is de novo. United States v. Shea, 150 F.3d 44, 49-50 (1st Cir.1998). 181 We reject both arguments. As to the claim that the drug amount is an element of the CCE offense, the CCE statute plainly does not require a minimum drug amount for a conviction. 182 As to Soto-Ramírez and Soto-Beníquez's Apprendi argument, Apprendi requires that [o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct. 2348. Here, absent a finding of drug quantity, the statutory maximum for CCE is already life imprisonment: the statute authorizes a sentence of twenty years to life imprisonment regardless of drug amount. 21 U.S.C. § 848(a)-(c). A drug amount above a certain level can result in a mandatory life sentence, § 848(b), but does not change the statutory maximum. Hence, no Apprendi violation has occurred with regard to the CCE convictions. 9 183