Opinion ID: 219844
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Explicit Findings

Text: We also disagree with Johnson's argument that the district court erred by not explicitly finding that the transactions on July 1 and 6, and August 14, 20, and 31 were sufficiently related to the offense of conviction, which occurred on July 2, to constitute relevant conduct. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3. See generally United States v. Arroyo, 406 F.3d 881, 889 (7th Cir.2005) (When a district court aggregates drug quantities arising from uncharged or unconvicted relevant conduct for purposes of calculating a defendant's base offense level, we have required the court to explicitly state and support, either at the sentencing hearing or (preferably) in a written statement of reasons, its finding that the unconvicted activities bore the necessary relation to the convicted offense. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted)); United States v. Winbush, 580 F.3d 503, 513-14 (7th Cir.2009). First, although the district court did not expressly use the phrases same course of conduct or common scheme, which appear in U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3, the record demonstrates that it made the necessary findings. See Wilson, 502 F.3d at 723 (upholding a finding under U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3 where, although the court did not specifically use the phrases in the sentencing guidelines, it was clear from the record that the court made the requisite findings); see also United States v. Williams, 272 F.3d 845, 852 (7th Cir. 2001); Acosta, 85 F.3d at 280. Regardless, Johnson concedes in his reply brief, and we agree, that [i]f the Government had introduced sufficient evidence to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Johnson possessed and distributed (or intended to distribute) the drugs involved in calls [on days other than July 2], then those transactions would be relevant because they were temporally related and involved transactions with the same group of sellers. Thus, since we conclude that the government did introduce sufficient evidence, even if the district court erred, the error was harmless. See FED.R.CRIM.P. 52(a); Arroyo, 406 F.3d at 890 (no plain error where the district court assumed without specifically finding that the defendant's cocaine activity was sufficiently related to his heroin conviction because the record could support the conclusion that the two offenses were part of the same course of conduct).