Opinion ID: 6538
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the appeal of julio castro

Text: 13 Castro argues first that the district court erred in using a prior conspiracy conviction in the Southern District of New York to enhance his sentence. The district court relied on the earlier conviction to enhance Castro's sentence to the 20-year mandatory minimum under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(1)(A), which provides in pertinent part: 14 If any person commits [a drug violation involving 5 kilograms or more of cocaine], after a prior conviction for a felony drug offense has become final, such person shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment ... which may not be less than 20 years and not more than life imprisonment. 15 Castro complains that the government initially prosecuted him for a conspiracy offense in the Southern District of New York for the purpose of enhancing his sentence on the substantive offense he was later tried for in the Southern District of Texas. Stated differently, Castro argues that the government is prohibited from prosecuting a criminal conspiracy separately from the underlying substantive criminal offense for the purpose of obtaining a sentencing enhancement. 16 We find no merit to Castro's argument. First, a substantive crime and a conspiracy to commit that crime are not the same offense for double jeopardy purposes. United States v. Felix, --- U.S. ----, ----, 112 S.Ct. 1377, 1385, 118 L.Ed.2d 25 (1992). Also, the conspiracy prosecution in New York was based on a different transaction than the instant offense. The New York conspiracy offense was related to Castro's involvement in a single substantive offense: transportation of five kilograms of cocaine in February 1991. The instant offense involved Castro's participation in transporting cocaine from Houston to New York in January 1991. 17 Castro's reliance on Deal v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 1993, 124 L.Ed.2d 44 (1993) is misplaced. In Deal, the defendant was convicted of six counts of bank robbery, six counts of carrying and using a firearm in relation to the bank robbery and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. With respect to the firearm convictions, the district court applied 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c)(1), which provides: 18 Whoever, during and in relation to any crime of violence ... uses or carries a firearm, shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such crime of violence ..., be sentenced to imprisonment for five years.... In the case of his second or subsequent conviction under this subsection, such person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for twenty years.... 19 Pursuant to this provision, the district court sentenced the defendant to five years on the first firearms count and to twenty years on each of the other five firearms counts. The Court held that Deal's conviction on counts 2-6, although obtained in a single proceeding, arose in the case of his second or subsequent conviction within the meaning of Sec. 924(c)(1). In other words, the Court held that Deal's conviction on the first count could be relied upon as a predicate to enhance the conviction on counts two through six. The Court's reasoning in Deal therefore provides no support to Castro's argument. The district court did not err in using the earlier drug conspiracy conviction to enhance Castro's sentence.
20 Castro argues next that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment right by restricting his cross-examination of Jeffrey Harbour, one of his co-conspirators who was a government witness. At trial, Castro's attorney asked Harbour on cross-examination was your wife indicted on this case on the same ... The prosecutor objected on grounds of relevance and the court sustained the prosecutor's objection. Castro argues that his question regarding Dolly Harbour's indictment status was relevant to Harbour's motive for testifying, and thus, his credibility. 21 If Castro had tried to determine from Harbour whether the prosecutor had declined to prosecute Dolly as part of the consideration for Harbour's plea agreement, Castro's argument would have some weight. But he gave no signal to the district court that his objective was to raise this question. He simply asked whether Dolly had been indicted and did not follow up to give the district court a clear signal of the purpose of his question. The district court did not abuse its discretion in sustaining the objection.
22 Finally, Castro complains that the district court made an indefinite finding on the quantity of drugs he could reasonably foresee that he and his co-conspirators were distributing. In the alternative, Castro argues that the court's finding on this question was clearly erroneous. 23 First, the district court complied with Fed.R.Crim.P. 32(c)(3)(D). At sentencing, the court stated: The court adopts the factual statements contained in the Presentence Report as to which there were no objections, and as to the objection the Court has overruled those objections. We have recognized that a sentencing court may satisfy the requirements of Rule 32(c)(3)(D) by rejecting a defendant's objections and orally adopting the factual findings of the PSR. See United States v. Puma, 937 F.2d 151, 159-60 (5th Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1165, 117 L.Ed.2d 412 (1992). 24 The only remaining question, therefore, is whether the PSR's factual findings, which were adopted by the district court, are clearly erroneous. The PSR stated that Castro aided and abetted the transportation of more than 340 kilograms of cocaine. Castro disputes this amount by denying his knowledge of certain shipments. Castro claims actual participation in the shipment of only 148 kilograms of cocaine. However, Mora and Harbour testified to Castro's involvement with the shipments which Castro now disavows. The probation officer and the district court were entitled to rely on this testimony in attributing the amounts involved in those loads to Castro. We find no clear error in the district court's finding as to the quantity of drugs reasonably foreseeable to Castro. 25