Opinion ID: 777315
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: McLean's Guilty Plea

Text: 5 On October 4, 1999, McLean pleaded guilty to all four counts of an indictment. The indictment charged McLean with one count of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and with three counts of possessing with intent to distribute and distributing marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Count 1 of the indictment specified that [t]he amount of marijuana involved in this conspiracy exceeds 100 kilograms. The remaining counts did not specify the quantity of drugs involved. 6 Although McLean sought to enter a guilty plea, he continued to contest the amount of marijuana charged in Count I of the indictment. Specifically, at his allocution, when the Court asked McLean how he pleaded to Counts I, II, III, and IV of his indictment, his counsel interjected: 7 Before the entry of Mr. McLean's plea, I note that the final sentence in Count I is as follows: Quote, the amount of marijuana involved in this conspiracy exceeds 100 kilograms. With respect to the amount of marijuana alleged, the defendant contests the allegation of the Government as to the total quantity. However, he is prepared to plead guilty to Count I with that understanding.... 8 Tr. dated Oct. 4, 1999, at 15. In its response to the District Court's request that the prosecutor advise McLean of the relevant statutory penalties and sentencing guidelines in his case, the Government acknowledged that the issue of quantity would be resolved by the District Court: 9 Your Honor, had the defendant — or with the defendant's conviction on Count I of the indictment, if the Court finds that the quantity of marijuana involved in the conspiracy exceeded 100 kilograms, then in that event, the defendant would face the penalties set forth in 21 United States Code, Section 841(b)(1)(B). 10 Id. at 22. Thus, it is clear that neither defense counsel nor the Government (nor, apparently, the District Court) understood McLean to have pleaded guilty to a crime involving any specific threshold drug quantity, 4 despite the fact that Count I of the indictment charged quantity with respect to the conspiracy. Nevertheless, the District Court — acting over eight months before Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), was decided — accepted McLean's plea. The District Court's acceptance of the plea is not surprising, because, prior to Apprendi, this Court had held that, in cases involving violations of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a), [w]hen an indictment does allege that a particular quantity is involved, the effect is only to put the defendant on notice that the enhanced penalty provisions of section 841(b) may apply. United States v. Campuzano, 905 F.2d 677, 679 (2d Cir.1990) (emphasis added), overruled by United States v. Thomas, 274 F.3d 655 (2d Cir.2001) ( en banc ). In other words, prior to Apprendi, even when quantity was charged in an indictment, it remained a sentencing factor to be determined by the Court after a defendant's conviction.