Opinion ID: 695575
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Quantity of Heroin

Text: 8 Logan argues that the district court erred in calculating the amount of heroin attributable to her for purposes of determining her sentence under the sentencing guidelines. The court's drug quantity determination is a factual finding that we review under the clearly erroneous standard. United States v. Bieri, 21 F.3d 811, 817 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 208, 130 L.Ed.2d 138 (1994). When the amount of drugs seized does not reflect the scale of the offense, the district court may approximate the quantity based on similar transactions engaged in by the defendant. U.S.S.G. Sec. 2D1.1, comment. (n.12). We will reverse a drug quantity finding only if we are firmly convinced that a mistake has been made. United States v. Maxwell, 25 F.3d 1389, 1397 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 610, 130 L.Ed.2d 519 (1994). 9 The government bears the burden of establishing the quantity of drugs attributable to a defendant for sentencing purposes. Id. If a defendant objects to factual allegations contained in the Presentence Investigation Report (PSR), a district court may not adopt the PSR's challenged facts until the defendant's objections have been heard and the government proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the facts stated in the PSR are accurate. See United States v. Greene, 41 F.3d 383, 386 (8th Cir.1994); Fed.R.Crim.P. 32(c)(1). Logan contends that the government failed to carry its burden of proof because the trial testimony relied upon by the PSR and the district court did not support the conclusion that Logan sold over one kilogram of heroin during the conspiracy. Logan further complains that she was unable to fully present her objections to the PSR at the sentencing hearing because the court refused to allow her to question Louise House, even though House was present in the courthouse at the time of the hearing. We agree that the government failed to establish that over one kilogram of heroin was attributable to Logan during this conspiracy. 10 The district court set Logan's base offense level at 32, representing at least one kilogram but less than three kilograms of heroin. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 2D1.1(c)(4). The court adopted the calculation set forth in the PSR which purported to reflect the trial testimony of witnesses, primarily Louise House. By combining some specific figures and extrapolating from House's testimony, the court found that House bought 50 grams of heroin from Logan twice a month for nine months (January through September 1992), for a subtotal of 900 grams, plus 148.7 grams that were seized from House on October 6, 1992. This amount--1048.7 grams--put Logan over the one kilogram threshold of level 32. 11 As an initial matter, we find that the district court clearly erred in adopting the PSR's conclusion that Logan provided House with heroin beginning in January 1992. See PSR, p 16. House herself testified that she began buying heroin from Logan in early spring of 1992. Tr. 542. Prior to that time House bought heroin from Logan's husband. Id. As the government failed to clarify what date or even what month House was referring to, we conclude that spring arrives no earlier than March in either St. Louis or Chicago. See The American Heritage Dictionary 1250 (New College Ed.1976). We therefore hold that Logan began to sell heroin to House no earlier than March 1992. 12 We find no clear error in the district court's finding that House's heroin purchases from Logan averaged 50 grams per purchase and that there were two purchases a month. The district court may approximate drug quantity based on similar transactions by a defendant, so long as the estimates have sufficient accuracy. U.S.S.G. Sec. 2D1.1, comment. (n.12); United States v. Brown, 19 F.3d 1246, 1248 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 100, 130 L.Ed.2d 49 (1994); United States v. Olderbak, 961 F.2d 756, 764 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 422, 121 L.Ed.2d 344 (1992). Both House and her daughter, Sue Cramer, testified to purchases of 50 grams, and House recalled one buy of 75 grams. Tr. 557, 586-87, 658. House's final purchase from Logan was for 148.7 grams, which was seized from House upon her arrest on October 6, 1992. 13 As to the frequency of her purchases, House testified that she made two trips per month to Chicago to buy heroin from Logan. Tr. 542. Cramer testified that she accompanied House on five trips to Chicago to buy heroin. Tr. 650-51. House and Cramer also stated that Logan sometimes delivered heroin to St. Louis. Tr. 557, 572, 658. In light of the testimony about House's trips to Chicago as well as Logan's deliveries to St. Louis, the district court did not clearly err in finding that House made two purchases a month from Logan during the conspiracy. 14 We therefore determine that the evidence supports the conclusion that Logan sold 50 grams of heroin twice a month from March through September 1992, plus 148.7 grams that was seized from House on October 6, 1992. This total of 848.7 grams gives Logan a base offense level of 30 (at least 700 grams but less than one kilogram) under the sentencing guidelines, rather than level 32 which the district court applied after it determined that at least one kilogram of heroin was attributable to Logan. 1