Opinion ID: 694763
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: general facts1

Text: 4 A year-long drug investigation in and around Akron, Ohio culminated in May 1992, when police officers arrested more than fifteen people and executed more than twenty search warrants. A grand jury indictment charged nineteen people, including defendants-appellants, James Ross (Ross), Kevin Tate (Tate), Edward James (James), Mansour Saikaly (Saikaly), James Dillehay (Dillehay), and Milton English (English), with conspiring to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. Sec. 846. The indictment also charged that Jerome Gordon (Gordon) and Anthony Johnson (Johnson) were involved in the conspiracy. Gordon and Johnson pleaded guilty and were the principal government witnesses at trial. 5 A jury convicted each defendant of conspiring to distribute cocaine and convicted several of the defendants of related gun and substantive drug offenses. 2 The district court sentenced defendants to varying prison terms; defendant Dillehay was sentenced to life imprisonment. 6 Defendants, each of whom submitted a separate brief, raise various challenges to their convictions and sentences. Defendants claim the following errors were committed by the district court: (a) issuance of the search warrant on an insufficient affidavit; (b) failure to suppress evidence seized in violation of the knock and announce rule; (c) violation of the Sixth Amendment right to speedy trial; (d) failure to grant severance pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 14; (e) failure to grant various motions made after an attorney conflict of interest was discovered; (f) failure to give the multiple conspiracy jury instruction; (g) insufficiency of evidence on the conspiracy charge; (h) insufficiency of evidence on the firearm charges; (i) admission of co-conspirator hearsay; (j) admission of excerpts of recordings of telephone conversations; (k) admission of certain physical evidence; and (l) various sentencing errors.