Opinion ID: 3000623
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Artley’s PSR, PSR Addendum, and Sentencing

Text: Hearing The PSR estimated that Artley’s relevant conduct involved at least 500 grams but not more than two kilograms of cocaine, which, under § 2D1.1(c)(7), resulted in an advisory guideline base offense level of 26. After applying a two-level enhancement (not challenged on appeal) for possession of a loaded firearm in a place where drugs were present and a three-level credit for acceptance of responsibility, the PSR recommended that Artley’s offense level total 25. Artley filed objections to the PSR, contending that the drug-quantity estimate was speculative and in violation of his due process rights. Specifically, Artley objected to the PSR’s statement that he had worked with Jerry McCoy for several years.2 Artley also objected to the PSR’s reliance on statements made by William McCoy, Verriden, 1 The imprisonment range is 295 to 365 months; however, the range is limited by the 30-year statutory maximum imprisonment term. 2 Artley argued that such a statement was speculative and inconsistent with his incarceration from May 10, 2000 to May 14, 2002, his subsequent stay in a halfway house until midAugust 2002, and his imprisonment from September 10, 2003 to February 6, 2004. 8 Nos. 05-2127 & 05-2220 and Smith. Artley argued that the inconsistencies in the statements made by William McCoy and Jerry McCoy and their efforts to blame each other for the drugs present at Artley’s apartment the night of the shooting rendered William McCoy’s statements unreliable. Artley next argued that Verriden’s statements were insufficiently reliable because of her assertion that she had contacted Artley to buy cocaine at times Artley was in prison and her claim that she began buying cocaine at Artley’s Fish Hatchery Road apartment in October 2002 even though he had not yet moved into that apartment. Finally, Artley argued that Smith contradicted herself by stating that she had been to Artley’s apartment for cocaine transactions five to eight times, when she also told investigators that she had made four four-and-a-half ounce purchases of cocaine from McCoy. An addendum to the PSR responded to Artley’s objections, noting that it was reasonable to conclude that Artley knew about the drugs being distributed from his residence. Both William and Jerry McCoy stated that the other was in possession of cocaine at Artley’s residence the night Artley shot Bowdry. That same night, police recovered cocaine outside of Artley’s apartment. William McCoy, Verriden, and Smith all stated that Jerry McCoy and Artley sold drugs together out of Artley’s residence on Fish Hatchery Road. Artley admits that in November 2002 he was living at his Fish Hatchery Road apartment. Finally, the addendum explained that Smith’s statements were not contradictory. Smith did not clarify the amount of cocaine she had purchased during her transactions at Artley’s residence. Her statement that she had purchased four-and-a-half ounces of cocaine from McCoy every two weeks for two months did not contradict her statement that she also had been to Artley’s residence five to eight times to purchase cocaine. Nos. 05-2127 & 05-2220 9 The district court disagreed with Artley’s objections and adopted the portions of the PSR and PSR Addendum that it found sufficiently reliable: the drugs seized during the controlled buys; the statements of William McCoy, Smith, and Verriden; and the kilogram of cocaine recovered by the police outside of Artley’s apartment during the homicide investigation. Based on this evidence, the district court determined that Artley’s relevant conduct involved at least 500 grams but less than two kilograms of cocaine. Having accepted the PSR’s recommendations, the district court first determined Artley’s sentencing guidelines range to be 110 to 137 months’ imprisonment and then sentenced him to 125 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release. Each defendant filed a timely notice of appeal, and on May 10, 2005, we consolidated their appeals.