Opinion ID: 677313
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Methamphetamine quantities

Text: 96 Michael Nietupski, Battles, Hunter, and Dionne contend that the district court erred in calculating the amount of methamphetamine attributed to each of them for sentencing purposes. Section 1B1.3(a)(1)(B) of the Sentencing Guidelines states that in the case of jointly undertaken criminal activity ..., all reasonably foreseeable acts and omissions of others in furtherance of the jointly undertaken criminal activity are relevant to the determination of a defendant's base offense level. U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.3(a)(1)(B). In a drug conspiracy, each conspirator is responsible not only for amounts with which he was directly involved, but also for amounts involved in transactions by co-conspirators that were reasonably foreseeable to him. Cotts, 14 F.3d at 305; Goines, 988 F.2d at 775. [R]easonable foreseeability means more than subjective awareness on the part of the individual defendants.... Instead, conduct of co-conspirators ... can be considered 'reasonably foreseeable' to a particular defendant if that defendant has demonstrated a substantial degree of commitment to the conspiracy's objectives, either through his words or his conduct. United States v. Edwards, 945 F.2d 1387, 1393-94 (7th Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1590, 118 L.Ed.2d 308 (1992). The district court makes the determination of drug amounts based on the evidence in the case and its own assessments of witness credibility. Cotts, 14 F.3d at 305. We review this determination for clear error, and will reverse only if, after reviewing the entire record, we are convinced that a mistake has been committed. Anderson, 470 U.S. at 573, 105 S.Ct. at 1511; Rodgers, 12 F.3d at 673-74. 97 The district court found that Michael Nietupski was accountable for just over 8.306 kilograms of methamphetamine, the full amount involved in the conspiracy. Michael argues that 67% of this amount was irrelevant to his sentencing calculus because he did not participate in twelve of the seventeen drug transactions cited by the government. Despite Michael's lack of personal involvement in each transaction, the evidence demonstrated that Michael played a key role in the overall conspiracy as enforcer and manager of the Phoenix end of the distribution network. Given Michael's consistent and substantial involvement throughout the life of the Nietupski operation, the district court could properly conclude that the entire amount of methamphetamine distributed in the course of this conspiracy was reasonably foreseeable to Michael. Though the court made no particularized findings regarding the appropriateness of the drug amount, Michael made no objection during sentencing, so any challenge concerning the adequacy of the court's explanation of his sentence was waived. United States v. Strauser, 21 F.3d 194, 197 (7th Cir.1994); United States v. Mojica, 984 F.2d 1426, 1444 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 2433, 124 L.Ed.2d 653; United States v. Caicedo, 937 F.2d 1227, 1236 (7th Cir.1991). Waiver aside, Michael did not identify any evidence to support his contention that the full amount of methamphetamine was not reasonably foreseeable to him. Mojica, 984 F.2d at 1444 & 1446. The district court did not clearly err in sentencing Michael based on three to less than ten kilograms of methamphetamine. 98 The district court found that Battles and Hunter were each accountable for the distribution of 6.1236 kilograms of methamphetamine from August 1988 until the end of the conspiracy. Battles argues that the district court failed to conduct an individualized inquiry into the amount of drugs reasonably foreseeable to him. Like Michael Nietupski, Battles waived this argument by failing to object to the sufficiency of the court's fact-finding at the sentencing hearing. Even if Battles had preserved this argument, the record reveals that the district court did make particularized findings regarding Battles' role in the conspiracy. The district court found that the evidence established one conspiracy, not multiple conspiracies; that Battles was a part of [this conspiracy] at the time involved (Tr. 8); that Battles was clearly identified as a mid-level distributor for this conspiracy (Tr. 7); and that the drug amounts which Battles disputed were properly attributed to him because they were reasonably foreseeable under the conspiracy doctrine. (Tr. 11; see Tr. 6-11). In addition, the evidence disclosed that Battles occupied the role of trusted lieutenant in the Nietupski operation. In such capacity, Battles knew about Zahm's manufacturing activities, acted as Nancy's surrogate, and regularly distributed one-eighth to one-quarter pound quantities of methamphetamine per week for Nancy. Thus, Battles' role belied his contention that he could not have reasonably foreseen the flow of 6.1236 kilograms of methamphetamine through the conspiracy. 99 Hunter also argues that the district court failed to specify the reasons for his sentence. Like Michael Nietupski and Battles, Hunter waived this argument because he did not raise it at the sentencing hearing. In any event, the district court's generic explanation of the amount of methamphetamine reasonably foreseeable by Hunter was supported by the collected evidence that placed Hunter in Nancy Nietupski's inner circle. Hunter knew about Nancy's efforts to obtain methamphetamine, her difficulty in finding a lab site, and Zahm's manufacturing activities. This evidence underscored the significance of Hunter's participation in the conspiracy. The district court's finding that Hunter could reasonably have foreseen that the conspiracy he joined involved 6,123.6 grams of methamphetamine was correct. 100 The district court found that Dionne was accountable for the distribution of 7,399.36 grams of methamphetamine. Dionne argues that this finding was inadequate on the same basis advanced by Michael Nietupski, Battles, and Hunter. Again, we reject this argument on account of waiver. The evidence adduced at trial, moreover, established Dionne's direct participation in numerous drug transactions. Matthews testified that Dionne was one of her main distributors, and that over a three-month period Matthews fronted Dionne one to two ounces of methamphetamine per week. The evidence also established Dionne's familiarity with the manufacturing aspect of the conspiracy. Dionne helped Zahm extract methamphetamine from filters used in the first gassing at Neely's barn. Dionne also suggested to Matthews that they cook the pickle juice that Zahm had left behind following his arrest. We conclude that the district court did not err in finding that Dionne was responsible for 7,399.36 grams of methamphetamine. 101 AFFIRMED.