Opinion ID: 785776
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Heading: Possession of a Firearm During a Drug Offense

Text: 113 Guideline § 2D1.1(b)(1) provides a two-level enhancement for defendants who possess firearms during drug crimes. Bonnie Gahr testified that she saw Gaskin armed with a gun on several occasions when he came to her home to pick up marijuana. Despite the district court's explicit finding that it credited Gahr's testimony, Gaskin argues that no enhancement was warranted because he was acquitted of Count Seven, which charged him with violating 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) by carrying a firearm during and in relation to the charged marijuana conspiracy. 114 Gaskin's argument is foreclosed by the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Watts, 519 U.S. 148, 117 S.Ct. 633, 136 L.Ed.2d 554 (1997) (per curiam), which holds that a jury's verdict of acquittal does not prevent the sentencing court from considering conduct underlying the acquitted charge, so long as that conduct has been proved by a preponderance of the evidence, id. at 157, 117 S.Ct. 633. Even before Watts, this court had ruled that a § 2D1.1(b)(1) enhancement could be applied to a defendant acquitted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). See United States v. Rodriguez-Gonzalez, 899 F.2d 177, 182 (2d Cir.1990); accord United States v. Lynch, 92 F.3d 62, 67 (2d Cir.1996). 115 We defer to the district court's credibility finding with respect to Gahr's testimony about Gaskin's firearm possession, see United States v. Lynch, 92 F.3d at 67 (crediting testimony of confidential informant that he had seen defendant carrying a gun during narcotics transactions), and conclude that it properly applied a § 2D1.1(b)(1) enhancement.