Opinion ID: 6111649
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Demarco Tempo’s Involvement with “Polo”

Text: Tempo was widely known by the nickname “Polo.” It started as “Marco Polo” but became just “Polo” over the years. (William Dennis, Sr. Trial Test., R. 713, Page ID #5179). As early as 2009, William Dennis, Sr.—the father of Tempo’s half-brother—saw Tempo cut up heroin, place it in small plastic bags, bundle those small bags together, and package them “into a sandwich bag for sale.” (Id. at Page ID ##5134–35, ##5140–41). Dennis also saw Tempo selling crack cocaine as early as 2013. Indeed, Dennis used to cook crack cocaine with Tempo, which Tempo later sold. Amacio Alexander—a “Polo” runner—identified Tempo in open court as the man to whom his boss, Mr. Howard, answered. Alexander interacted with Tempo a few times while selling drugs on Hamburg Street. The first time, Tempo turned to Alexander and told him that selling drugs “is grown-men business.” (Alexander Test., R. 705, Page ID #4038). The second time, Alexander handed the money from his drug sales directly to Tempo. Finally, Tempo gave Alexander a phone to use while selling drugs, and Tempo called that phone to tell Alexander when customers were coming. Other witnesses saw Tempo when they bought drugs from “Polo.” During three undercover purchases in 2016, Officer Villerot saw Tempo driving the car as a passenger made the drug sales. Once, Officer Villerot saw the passenger hand Tempo the money from the sale. Phone tracking data put Tempo at the location of this deal at that time. Officer Villerot also identified Tempo’s voice in recorded calls from the FBI’s 2013 undercover purchases and his 2016 undercover purchases. As early as 2009, Tempo listed his personal phone number as the x5598 “Polo” number. Tempo often carried two phones in his hands, and geolocation data showed that the x5598 phone and the x3399 phone were always together. Using geolocation data, police officers located the phones and used that information to pull Tempo over as he was driving home from a trip to Chicago. When Tempo got back from Chicago, officers tracked the phones as they stopped at each suspected “Polo” stash house “like clockwork.” (Craig Bankowski Trial Test., R. 708, Page ID #4427). Nos. 19-2217/2221/20-1177 United States v. Sadler, et al. Page 13 Witnesses said Tempo’s phone was always ringing, with calls coming in every minute. After taking a call, he would “tell one of the other guys around to go meet somebody somewhere.” (Dennis Test., R. 713, Page ID #5158). Tempo occasionally entrusted the phones to “certain people,” but he was selective about who he trusted for this task. (Id. at Page ID #5163). When officers arrested Tempo on June 14, 2016, they found both the x3399 and the x5598 phones in the center console of his car. The phones “wouldn’t stop ringing” and “consistently rang” until an officer turned them off. (Villerot Test., R. 710, Page ID ##4683– 84). On June 14, 2016, officers searched various properties that had ties to “Polo” drug deals and to Tempo personally. 15431 Spring Garden. Tempo bought this property from William Dennis. The DEA searched it and found a digital scale with white residue, large and small plastic bags, razor blades with white residue, and “other drug packaging material.” (Kevin Dailey Trial Test., R. 711, Page ID ##4859–61). 19504 Strasburg. This house was seemingly vacant; no utilities ran to it, and it had a “for rent” sign out front. (Bankowski Test., R. 708, Page ID #4410). It is located within 1000 feet of a school. In 2014 and again in early 2016, Tempo paid Dennis to do some repairs on the property. While working, Dennis often saw Tempo in the house with other people. At times, Dennis saw large quantities of drugs and people packaging drugs into small plastic bags. Once, when Tempo was at the house, Dennis saw someone put a substance into his mouth, taste it, and then spit it out, saying: “That’s that fentanyl, I don’t want none of that shit.” (Dennis Test., R. 713, Page ID #5171). Tempo responded by saying: “That’s that strong[;] [t]hat’s what everybody want.” (Id.) Investigators said the house was a “Polo” “stash location” that operated “almost like a dispatch center.” (Bankowski Test., R. 708, Page ID #4352, #4357). Surveillance showed Tempo at the property “at least once a day.” (Id. at Page ID #4413). “Polo” members and runners—those involved in “hand-to-hand drug transactions,” (id. at Page ID #4363)—frequently came and went from the property. When officers searched it, they found: 16.7 grams of cocaine Nos. 19-2217/2221/20-1177 United States v. Sadler, et al. Page 14 in a nickel-sized plastic bag, 138.3 grams of crack cocaine on a plate, a digital scale, razor blades, and plastic bags with white powder residue. 24343 Flower. On May 23, 2016, during a traffic stop, Tempo told police that he resided at this home with a woman named Tachelle Harris. When officers searched the house on June 14, 2016, they found 379.8 grams of cocaine in a plastic bag with Tempo’s fingerprints on it. The bag was in a shoebox under the bed in the master bedroom. Officers also found two digital scales in a cabinet and court documents with Tempo’s name on them. 12634 Hamburg. “Polo” often sold drugs on Hamburg Street. A police informant bought drugs there as early as November 1, 2013, and Officer Villerot bought drugs there as late as May 30, 2016. When customers went to Hamburg, they were sometimes told to park in front of, or even go inside, a blue house to buy drugs. On one occasion, “one of the people in the [“Polo”] organization” told a “Polo” customer, who was experiencing withdrawal symptoms, that she could go inside the house to use the heroin she bought. (Palazzola Test., R. 715, Page ID #5357). That customer used drugs in the house many times between late 2015 and early 2016, and she said that the house was vacant. When officers searched the property on June 14, 2016, they found digital scales, drug packaging materials, clear plastic bags, multiple dishes with suspected drug residue, and razor blades.