Opinion ID: 537191
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Substantive Charges.

Text: 21 Defendants argue that there was insufficient evidence to convict them on some of the substantive charges connected to the conspiracies. Romero and Rodriguez claim that they did not possess the gun used by Santos or participate in the shooting, so they cannot be liable for the weapons, attempted murder, and assault charges. Santos, contending he did not possess the drugs, had no control over them, and took no part in the negotiation and sale of them, asserts that he cannot, therefore, be held culpable for possession of cocaine. We reject these arguments based on the co-conspirator liability theory of Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 66 S.Ct. 1180, 90 L.Ed. 1489 (1946). 22 Under a Pinkerton theory, a conspirator can be held responsible for the substantive crimes committed by his co-conspirators to the extent those offenses were reasonably foreseeable consequences of acts furthering the unlawful agreement, even if he did not himself participate in the substantive crimes. United States v. Bruno, 873 F.2d 555, 560 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 125, 107 L.Ed.2d 86 (1989); Pinkerton, 328 U.S. at 647, 66 S.Ct. at 1184. Whether a particular crime is foreseeable and in furtherance of the conspiracy is a factual matter for the jury. Bruno, 873 F.2d at 560. 23 Given the ammunition spread around the apartment, the precautions Romero and Rodriguez took to ensure the informants were neither armed nor police, and the stationing of Santos as an armed triggerman in the closet, the jury had ample evidence from which to conclude the conspirators had contemplated and prepared for using the gun. Under these circumstances, there was sufficient evidence to conclude that Santos's use of the gun was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the narcotics conspiracy. 24 Further, it is uncontroverted that Santos lay in wait with a firearm for the purpose of protecting the narcotics deal. He emerged from the closet to shoot a federal agent in the face, seriously wounding him and only by chance failing to kill him. A jury could reasonably conclude that Santos's actions were in furtherance of the narcotics conspiracy as well as the conspiracy to kill anyone threatening the dealers or the deal. 25 Moreover, a conspira[cy] is presumed to continue    until the last overt act of any of the conspirators. United States v. Menendez, 612 F.2d 51, 54 (2d Cir.1979). Romero and Rodriguez may reasonably be found guilty for their co-conspirator's shooting of the agent as the last foreseeable act in furtherance of the narcotics and murder conspiracies. 26 Finally, Santos claims that he was merely a hired gun, unaware of the nature of the business transactions taking place. On this record the jury was entitled to reject that claim as incredible. By remaining in the closet to protect those business transactions, he joined the narcotics conspiracy, and the reasonably foreseeable acts of his co-conspirators are attributable to him. Since it is undisputed that Romero and Rodriguez possessed cocaine with the intent to distribute it as the goal of the narcotics conspiracy, a reasonable jury could have found there was sufficient evidence to find Santos guilty of the same crime. 27 We thus conclude that a rational jury could have found the possession of drugs during a drug deal, the use of the gun during the drug offense, the attempted murder of a federal officer by lying in wait, and the actual assault of the officer all to be reasonably foreseeable consequences of acts done in furtherance of the underlying conspiracies. Thus, we hold that the convictions of the defendants on these substantive counts were supported by sufficient evidence. 28