Opinion ID: 778180
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Challenges by Johnson

Text: 78 Johnson attempts to distance himself from the other defendants in making several challenges to his conviction and his sentence, contending principally that, because there was no proof connecting him to any sale of narcotics in Far Rockaway, (a) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction on the conspiracy counts, and (b) his sentence was disproportionate to his offense. We see no merit in any of his contentions. 79
80 A defendant may be found guilty of conspiracy on the basis of evidence from which it can reasonably be inferred that [he] knew of the existence of the scheme alleged in the indictment and knowingly joined and participated in it. United States v. Gaviria, 740 F.2d 174, 183 (2d Cir.1984). Even a supplier of legal goods to a conspiracy may be found guilty of conspiracy if he supplied those goods kn[owing] of and intend[ing] to further the illegal venture, ... encourag[ing] the illegal use of the goods or ha[ving] a stake in such use. United States v. Zambrano, 776 F.2d 1091, 1095 (2d Cir.1985); see, e.g., Direct Sales Co. v. United States, 319 U.S. 703, 712-13, 63 S.Ct. 1265, 87 L.Ed. 1674 (1943) (supplier of morphine to physician); United States v. Rush, 666 F.2d 10, 11-12 (2d Cir.1981) (per curiam) (lender of money to marijuana importer). A fortiori one may be found to have been a member of a narcotics conspiracy where he knew the nature of the conspiracy and intended to further it by supplying guns, which we have taken judicial notice [are], to substantial dealers in narcotics, ... as much tools of the trade as are the commonly recognized articles of narcotics paraphernalia, United States v. Crespo, 834 F.2d 267, 271 (2d Cir.1987), cert. denied, 485 U.S. 1007, 108 S.Ct. 1471, 99 L.Ed.2d 700 (1988); see, e.g., United States v. Torres, 901 F.2d 205, 235 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 906, 111 S.Ct. 273, 112 L.Ed.2d 229 (1990); United States v. Fernandez, 829 F.2d 363, 367 (2d Cir.1987) (per curiam). 81 With respect to count one in the present case, there was evidence that Johnson, though he testified that he had never brought guns to New York, in fact drove to New York every week between 1993 and 1995 for the purpose of selling guns. There was evidence that he carried 9-14 guns on each trip, secreting the guns in cubbyholes he created by, for example, removing stereo speakers, and that he sold guns to no fewer than seven members of the present conspiracy. The jury could easily infer that Johnson was aware of the joint venture among many of his buyers. Hamilton, for example, testified that he was introduced to Johnson by Grimes; he was also present when Johnson sold guns to Grimes. And plainly Johnson was aware of the nature of his purchasers' business, for in some instances he was paid not in cash but in narcotics. In sum, the evidence was ample to permit the jury to infer that Johnson knew his purchasers were jointly engaged in narcotics trafficking, that he made numerous and repeated sales to the coconspirators, and that he intended his sales to further their business. 82 As for count two, which charged conspiracy to distribute near a school zone between September 1996 and April 1998, Johnson's sufficiency challenge, based on the absence of evidence that he sold guns to the coconspirators during that period, is without merit for the reasons stated in Part II.B.1. above. There being no evidence that Johnson withdrew from the conspiracy, in which the jury found he was a participant in finding him guilty on count one, the presumption that his participation continued was sufficient to permit a finding of his guilt on count two.
83 Johnson also argues that his sentence to imprisonment for life constitutes cruel and unusual punishment within the meaning of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution because he was not a partner in the Beach 26th Street organization, did not profit from its business, and did not sell drugs in the New York area. We reject this challenge because, although there was no evidence that Johnson sold drugs in the New York area, the remainder of his factual premise is false. The jury found that he in fact was a participant in the Beach 26th Street conspiracy. The evidence was that he sold the coconspirators guns; that he received cash and narcotics in exchange for the guns; and that from his sales of guns and drugs he grossed $30,000 to $40,000 a week, or at least $3 million for 1993-1995. We see no Eighth Amendment violation in his life sentence.