Opinion ID: 4203977
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The 2013 Drug Conspiracy

Text: By 2012, Monteiro had begun selling heroin to Guarneri in batches of either fifty or one hundred grams. Sometimes Monteiro sold him powdered heroin. At other times the heroin was - 4 - solid, either in the shape of a hockey puck or a tall, narrow cylinder. In early 2013, the DEA approached Guarneri and informed him that he would soon be facing a federal indictment for drug trafficking. Agents told Guarneri that he could reduce his prison sentence if he cooperated in an investigation against Monteiro, and Guarneri agreed to assist them. Guarneri first called Monteiro while serving as a DEA informant on February 14, arranging to purchase 100 grams of heroin at a price of $6,500. The following day, Guarneri drove to New Bedford, Massachusetts and picked up Monteiro and Monteiro's cousin, Manuel Lopes, to initiate the heroin sale. Monteiro and Lopes directed Guarneri to a building, and Lopes took Guarneri into an apartment there. Inside, Guarneri gave Lopes and another individual $6,500 in exchange for 96.4 grams of heroin. On February 20, Guarneri again met with Monteiro, this time to set up a fifty-gram heroin purchase. The two spoke again by phone two days later, and Monteiro directed Guarneri to purchase the drugs from Lopes in New Bedford. When Guarneri met Lopes later that day, however, Lopes told Guarneri that his source was not able to procure the heroin, and Guarneri left empty-handed. Guarneri again spoke with Monteiro by phone several days later on February 25, and Monteiro confirmed that the sale would go forward that day. He also told Guarneri that they would not be - 5 - conducting the sale in the same apartment as the previous transaction because Monteiro had robbed the occupant in the interim. When Guarneri traveled to New Bedford to purchase the drugs, he found Lopes rather than Monteiro at the site. Lopes tried to coax Guarneri to advance him the money without providing the heroin, but Guarneri refused. Lopes left the site, and Monteiro showed up and berated Guarneri for not trusting his accomplice. Monteiro convinced Guarneri to hand over the money, and he purportedly left to get the heroin. However, Monteiro never came back. Later, Monteiro called Guarneri and falsely told him that he had been stopped by the police and they had seized the purchase money. Days later, law-enforcement authorities secured arrest warrants for Monteiro and Lopes, and search warrants for their respective residences. Police executed the warrants on March 1. At Monteiro's home, police found $1,300 in currency with serial numbers matching the money that DEA agents had given to Guarneri. They also discovered seven small envelopes of heroin stamped with the word Future in green ink. At Lopes's residence, police found thousands of identically packaged envelopes with the green Future identifier. In September 2014, a federal grand jury in Massachusetts issued a five-count superseding indictment charging Monteiro, Lopes, and another individual with conspiring to possess with - 6 - intent to distribute one hundred grams or more of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 (Count 1); possession with intent to distribute and distribution of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (Count 2); and possession with intent to distribute heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (Count 3). The indictment also charged Monteiro, alone, with conspiring to commit a Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951 (Count 4); and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (Count 5). After an eight-day trial in April 2015, a jury convicted Monteiro on Counts 1 - 4 and acquitted him on Count 5. The district court sentenced Monteiro to 250 months of imprisonment and 8 years of supervised release. Monteiro timely appealed both his conviction and sentence.