Opinion ID: 555769
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 2 On July 23, 1989, Agent Gerard Brady of the Maine Bureau of Intergovernmental Drug Enforcement (BIDE) was working undercover in Saco, Maine. Pursuant to a deal previously arranged by other agents, Brady and an informant drove to a commuter parking lot in Saco to wait for two Hispanic men who were to sell them 18 ounces of cocaine for $19,500. Other undercover agents were on the scene setting up surveillance, including BIDE agent Guy Godbout, who operated a video camera. Brady, who parked his own car about thirty feet away, sat in the passenger seat of the informant's car while they waited. 3 The meeting had been set for 1 p.m. and at 2:15 the defendant and Pedro Alvarez-Alvarez arrived, with defendant driving the car. Defendant, appearing to recognize the informant, approached and greeted him in English. He then introduced himself to Brady as Tony. While Alvarez remained in the car, defendant asked Brady if he had the money. Brady replied that he did, that it was in the trunk, and asked defendant if he had the cocaine. Defendant said yes and motioned to Alvarez, who got out of the car, walked around to the front, knelt down, and appeared to reach underneath the frame. Alvarez then went to the driver's side of the informant's car and threw a dark plastic bag towards Brady. Defendant and Alvarez gestured that that was the cocaine. Saying he wanted to make sure, Brady cut open the bag. He then said it looked good and that he would get the money from his trunk. Defendant accompanied Brady to the rear of Brady's car. When the trunk was opened, pursuant to prearrangement with the other agents, defendant and Alvarez were arrested. 4 At defendant's trial, Agent Brady testified to the account above. Agent Godbout took the stand and his videotape of the drug transaction was played for the jury. Wayne Buck, a forensic chemist, testified that the total weight of the cocaine was 538.7 grams. 5 Defendant himself was the only witness for the defense. He testified that he did not knowingly participate in any sale of drugs. According to him, he drove Alvarez to Maine that day from their home in Lawrence, Massachusetts, at the latter's request. He did not know why Alvarez wanted to go to Maine. When he drove into the parking lot in Saco, he told Brady he was lost and asked him for a map, speaking only Spanish to Brady. He testified that the word coke was never used, that he did not know there was cocaine in the car, and that he did not see Alvarez put anything in the informant's car. Brady's testimony was a lie, according to defendant. On rebuttal, Agent Brady contradicted defendant. He testified that there was no conversation with defendant about directions, that only English was spoken, and that defendant was looking inside the informant's car when Alvarez threw the cocaine into it. 6 Upon conviction, defendant was sentenced to 327 months imprisonment. The district court adopted the calculations set forth in the presentence investigation (PSI) report. The PSI report grouped the substantive and conspiracy counts together pursuant to U.S.S.G. Sec. 3D1.2(b)(1) and calculated a base offense level of 26 by reference to U.S.S.G. Sec. 2D1.1(a)(3) and the amount of cocaine involved. No adjustments were made to the base offense level. 7 The PSI report concluded that, because of two prior felony convictions, defendant was a career offender pursuant to U.S.S.G. Sec. 4B1.1. One conviction was under the laws of Puerto Rico for sale of marijuana; the other was for armed robbery in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Because the statutory maximum for the instant offense is forty years, defendant's offense level as a career offender was determined to be 34, see id., and his criminal history category VI. The applicable guideline range was determined to be 262 to 327 months pursuant to the Sentencing Table in U.S.S.G. Ch. 5, Part A. 8 At the sentencing hearing, defendant's only objection to the PSI report was to the conclusion that he was not entitled to a downward departure, arguing that his family circumstances and the fact that he was a courier in the transaction warranted departure. (His other, previous objection to the accuracy of certain prior Massachusetts district court convictions, had been cured and withdrawn.) The government recommended a sentence at the upper end of the guideline range, noting that defendant had been in prison or charged with crimes during eight of the last ten years and was on parole at the time of the instant offense. 9 Adopting the undisputed facts and calculations in the PSI report, the district court found that defendant was a career offender with a sentencing range of 262 to 327 months. The court imposed the maximum term, stating that its principal objective was to insulate the public ... for the maximum period possible from one with appellant's demonstrated propensity for long-term drug trafficking.