Opinion ID: 677069
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Gloria Steele.

Text: 14 Gloria Steele contends that the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to convict her of the conspiracy. Basically, she claims that the evidence established only that she was a naive mother, supportive of her son's business but ignorant of its criminal nature. She argues that there was no evidence that she intended to join the heroin-distributing purpose of her son's conspiracy. 15 An appellant who seeks to overturn a criminal conviction based on the sufficiency of the trial evidence faces a nearly insurmountable hurdle. United States v. Teague, 956 F.2d 1427, 1433 (7th Cir.1992). We review the evidence presented at trial in the light most favorable to the government, and will affirm if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Penson, 896 F.2d 1087, 1093 (7th Cir.1990). We will not reweigh the evidence or make credibility determinations; as an appellate court viewing the trial record, we are incapable of assuming the role of the factfinder. United States v. Marin, 7 F.3d 679, 688 (7th Cir.1993). 16 Because Steele challenges her conspiracy conviction, we must determine whether the government presented sufficient evidence to prove the elements of conspiracy. A conspiracy is a combination or confederation of two or more people formed for the purpose of committing, by their joint efforts, a criminal act. United States v. Mayo, 721 F.2d 1084, 1088 (7th Cir.1983). To prove conspiracy, the government must introduce evidence that the defendant knew of the conspiracy, and intended to join it. United States v. Townsend, 924 F.2d 1385, 1390 (7th Cir.1991). 17 At trial, Steele was shown to be thoroughly involved in her son's ring. The veneer of naive mother peeled away as a number of witnesses and other evidence portrayed Steele fully enmeshed in her son's criminal enterprise. Witnesses place Steele at the site of heroin production and distribution. The testimony also showed Steele, a Chicago police officer, providing the ring valuable information on police activity and procedures. Most importantly, testimony and other evidence had Steele receiving large amounts of money from the ring, and laundering it in apparently legitimate investments. We need not set forth every piece of evidence introduced against Steele, but an overview of the evidence portrays a person involved in several aspects of the operation. 18 The government's case was particularly strong because only three of the twenty-two ring members were on trial; most of the rest had pleaded guilty and testified against their former associates. Co-conspirators Jeffrey Smith, Veronica Jones, and Israel Olarenwaju, who had different roles in the conspiracy, testified that Steele had contacts with them when they conducted their drug operations. Apparently, Steele made the rounds with her son on occasion to observe different aspects of the diverse heroin operation. Workers Smith and Jones testified that Steele was sometimes present where telephones were being answered and drugs were being mixed. Olarenwaju testified that once when he sold Wesson a large amount of heroin, Steele was present in her police uniform. 19 Steele confirmed her knowledge of her son's business in several conversations which the government secretly tape-recorded in the course of its investigation. In a conversation with Roderick Parker, Wesson's First Assistant (who unbeknownst to Steele was cooperating with the government at the time), Steele commented on the poor health of one of the ring's members. She said, I'm tellin' ya you can only do this for a little while. At trial, Parker testified that he understood doing this to mean dealing drugs. Later in the conversation, Steele lamented about the pitfalls of dealing drugs: 20 STEELE: ... And see before, it was easy, you know, it was easy, you didn't have a lot of cops and stuff they didn't bother you, you know, it was cool. 21 PARKER: Um, hm. 22 STEELE: ... But now everybody's all into this drugs is runnin. inaudible ... But you know something, I always took it like this: drugs really don't come lookin for the customer. 23 PARKER: Right. 24 STEELE: The customers come lookin for them. 25 Steele went on to tell Parker that [p]eople have been doin' drugs since before Christ, citing such famous examples as King Louie, Queen Elizabeth, and George Washington. 26 Steele and Parker had a series of conversations which the government taped. Steele freely discussed many aspects of the drug ring on those tapes. She criticized her son for not requiring ring members to take stricter precautions to maintain secrecy, summarizing her concerns as follows: 27 They ah, they ah, they do a whole lot of things wrong so you know when you do it like that you gotta, you know, you gotta expect to have problems. You don't let nobody know what your business is, you know what you're doing. You just, you just keep it between you. 28 She later discussed the ring's falling drug profits, which she attributed to spending too much money on flashy consumer products, which she thought only served to attract unwanted attention: 29 PARKER: It shouldn't be like this. We were making almost 50,000 dollars a day at one time. Where did all that (inaudible) to? 30 STEELE: And then you know a lot of real estate capital, a lot of stuff to do you know, like I told Tommy he had no business buying all those damn cars and spending that kind of money on all those cars. 31 PARKER: That was my fault too. That was my down fall too. 32 STEELE: Ah um, everybody want to be flash and dash s--t all that s--t that don't do nothing but bring the heat on you. Don't bring nothing but problems on you.... 33 Steele favored placing the drug money in sound investments. She took large portions of the ring's money--in payments ranging from $1,000 to $90,000--and made such investments. She often received these payments while drug operations were going on in her presence. 34 When the police finally uncovered the ring, they found several police scanners. They also recovered a list of police districts, the location of police stations, and the frequencies used with the scanners. At one site they found a note giving detailed instructions to operate the scanners: If they switch to C wide, put on channel 10. Clear all beepers after callback to line controllers. 35 True, some of this evidence permits inferences not necessarily leading to the conclusion that Steele was a conspiracy member. For instance, many people--not all of them drug dealers--talk about possible drug use by historical figures. Many, too, lament that fancy clothes and cars can attract attention. And Gloria Steele did not necessarily provide the detailed information about how to use police scanners. But we have criticized viewing evidence in such a piecemeal fashion: 36 [I]t is also imperative that we not rend the fabric of evidence and examine each shred in isolation; rather, the reviewing court must use its experience with people and events in weighing the chances that the evidence correctly points to guilt against the possibility of [inaccurate] or ambiguous inference.United States v. Durrive, 902 F.2d 1221, 1229 (7th Cir.1990) (quoting United States v. Redwine, 715 F.2d 315, 319 (7th Cir.1983)). 37 Considering the totality of the government's case--which we only briefly describe here--the evidence strongly supports the conclusion that Steele was a member of the drug conspiracy. Steele had her chance to cross examine and otherwise challenge the government's case with the objective of presenting herself as an innocent bystander. She failed to convince the jury that she was not involved. The jury viewed the evidence and concluded that Steele was a member of the drug conspiracy: that she knew of its existence and intended to join it. We conclude that the evidence was sufficient to support this conclusion. 38