Opinion ID: 788500
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: 4 Defendant/Appellant Michael A. Robinson was charged in a six-count second superseding indictment with one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine (Count One), two counts of possession with intent to distribute marijuana (Counts Three and Six), two counts of carrying firearms during and in relation to the above-cited drug trafficking offenses (Counts Two and Five), and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm (Count Four). Co-defendants Kawyn Logan, William Barnes, and Ronald Brady also were named in the Count One conspiracy charge, and Barnes was named in the Count Six marijuana possession charge. Following a six-day trial of Defendant Robinson and Brady in June of 2001, 1 the jury returned guilty verdicts against Robinson on Counts One through Five and against Brady on the Count One conspiracy charge. 2 The jury further found that Robinson's role in the drug conspiracy offense involved both marijuana and cocaine, including at least five kilograms of cocaine and less than 50 kilograms of marijuana. 3 5 After escaping from jail shortly after trial, Robinson was sentenced in absentia on November 27, 2001 to 292 months' imprisonment as to Count One, 60 months as to the Count Three marijuana possession offense, and 120 months as to the Count Four felon-in-possession offense, to be served concurrently. Robinson was also sentenced to 60 months imprisonment as to each of the carrying offenses (Counts Two and Five), to be served concurrently with each other but consecutively to the other portions of his sentence. He now appeals his conviction and sentence, challenging a number of the district court's pretrial determinations and rulings at trial, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to sustain four of the five counts of conviction, and claiming that the district court erred in sentencing him in absentia and in calculating his sentence. We affirm Robinson's conviction but remand for resentencing.