Opinion ID: 709030
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Membership in the Enterprise

Text: 24 Gerald Hopkins and Carlton Darden both assert that the District Court should have granted their motions for an acquittal because the government did not prove that they were members of the enterprise charged in the indictment. Hopkins argues that the government proved mere association but failed to show that he had any knowledge of the activities of the alleged drug enterprise. Darden makes no specific argument on this issue, and Carla Seals and Raymond Amerson adopt Darden's nonargument. Seals's Brief at 41; Amerson's Brief at 18-19. Despite these deficiencies of argument, however, we will consider the sufficiency of the evidence implicating each of these defendants in the activities of the JLO. 25 As noted above, see supra pp. 1517-18, the government had the burden to prove, inter alia, that each defendant associated with the enterprise; each defendant participated in the conduct of the affairs of the enterprise; each defendant participated in the enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity; and, with respect to Count II only, each defendant objectively manifested an agreement to participate in the affairs of the enterprise. The jury found that the government had proved these elements beyond a reasonable doubt, and based on our review of the record we cannot say that the jury's verdict is unsupported by the evidence. 26 The following four subsections detail only a small part of the overwhelming evidence that supports the jury's verdicts on Counts I and II against Darden, Hopkins, Seals, and Amerson. The evidence demonstrates that each appellant associated with the JLO, participated in the conduct of the JLO's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, and manifested an agreement to participate in the JLO's affairs.
27 Carlton Darden's brother-in-law, Michael Lewis, testified that Darden was criminally involved with Jerry Lewis in the early 1980s when Michael first joined the JLO. At that time, Darden was a leader in the T's and blues trade of the JLO, travelling to Detroit on one occasion to purchase a vast amount of T's. March 15, 1993 Tr. at 52. His involvement in the organization continued at least through early 1989. Lewis testified that Darden was still distributing cocaine in the spring of 1989, both in a housing complex called Cochran Gardens and at his job with the City of St. Louis Parking Meter Division. Lewis also testified that Darden had discussed purchases of cocaine from Rudy Weaver and that Darden believed Weaver might be an informant. Additionally, Lewis stated that $100,000 in cocaine-generated currency was stored by Jerry Lewis at Darden's house. 28 Rudy Weaver testified that Darden purchased cocaine from him, both for personal use and for distribution, from late 1987 through the summer of 1988. According to Weaver, Darden told Weaver that individuals who informed on the JLO (snitches) would be killed. Darden well understood the JLO's potential for violent acts as he had participated in the attempted murder of rival drug dealer Lidell Bud Green and had shot Rochelle Bartlett at Jerry Lewis's behest, see infra pp. 1546-47, because Bartlett said that Lewis was informing on the JLO. 29 Darden's commitment to the goals of the JLO is evident from his willingness to follow Lewis's order to shoot Bartlett and his preoccupation with potential informants. Michael Lewis's testimony and the fact that Jerry Lewis entrusted Darden with large amounts of drug money are sufficient to prove Darden's association with the JLO. Darden's multiple drug deals in violation of state and federal law, using cocaine obtained through the JLO, sufficiently demonstrate his participation in the JLO through a pattern of racketeering activity. His trips to Detroit to purchase T's clearly manifest his agreement to participate in the conduct of the affairs of the JLO.
30 Jerry Lewis called Gerald Hopkins my little hitman, Tr. vol. 28 at 218, and the evidence supports Lewis's conclusion. Earl Parnell testified that both he and Hopkins were involved in the 1985 murder of a deputy sheriff. The deputy, Antar Tiari, was attempting to evict Jerry Lewis and the MSTA from its rented space in St. Louis, the same space from which the JLO conducted operations. Hopkins and Jerry Lewis, dressed in army fatigues, met with Parnell and Noble Bennett to plan the murder at Bennett's brother's auto shop. Lewis, Hopkins, Parnell, and Bennett returned to the auto shop after the murder, and Parnell testified that Hopkins said, I shot that [expletive omitted]. Every time I hit him, he just jumped around and danced like this. Tr. vol. 28 at 218. 31 Rudy Weaver testified that Hopkins participated in the planning of the 1987 killing of Harold Count Johnson, a rival drug dealer, and Ronnie Thomas testified that Hopkins helped to plan the 1988 killing of Ronald Anderson. Hopkins also generally was present at the JLO's information-sharing meetings. 32 Ronnie Thomas also testified that Hopkins participated in the JLO's March 28, 1988 surveillance of Billy Patton, a rival drug dealer who was eventually killed. Andrea Patton, Billy Patton's niece, was rendered a quadriplegic when the car she was driving was riddled with bullets. She had left her uncle's apartment in the car, and both Thomas and Michael Lewis testified that JLO members shot at the car in the mistaken belief that Billy Patton was inside. Lewis testified that Hopkins fired the shots. 33 The evidence of Hopkins's involvement in the JLO's drug trade is also extensive. Michael Lewis explained that the feud between the JLO and Billy Patton's organization stemmed from Hopkins's dealing of Lewis-supplied cocaine in the same area in which Patton was distributing cocaine. Hopkins apparently was undercutting Patton's prices. When Rudy Weaver returned to drug dealing in St. Louis, Hopkins and Jerry Lewis met with him at a Ponderosa restaurant and agreed to supply him with cocaine. Weaver later picked up cocaine from Hopkins at a convenience store managed by Hopkins. Additionally, the jury found that the government had proven, through the testimony of law enforcement officers and others, that Hopkins had possessed cocaine with the intent to distribute on June 28, 1987, and May 3, 1988. The jury also found that he had possessed cocaine on February 28, 1988, and April 25, 1988. The record supports the jury's findings on all of these charges. Thus Hopkins's argument that the government failed to prove that he had knowledge of the JLO's activities is specious.
34 Carla Seals was Gerald Hopkins's girlfriend during much of the time frame alleged in the indictment. Rudy Weaver testified that if Gerald Hopkins was not at the convenience store where Weaver picked up cocaine, Seals would have Hopkins's pager. Weaver and Earl Parnell both testified that at least twice Seals had dealt cocaine to them. Parnell testified that he arranged the purchases through Jerry Lewis. Weaver also testified that Seals went to Chicago to pick up cocaine for Lewis on two separate occasions. Additionally, Michael Lewis testified to Seals's involvement in the JLO's cocaine trade. Seals stored cocaine at her house and, along with Lewis, Weaver, and others, broke kilos of cocaine down into one-ounce units. Michael Lewis, during questioning by Seals's counsel, testified that whenever Carla was told to distribute cocaine to myself or Greg or whomever, she did. Tr. vol. 55 at 173. 35 In addition to the drug-related activities described above, the jury specifically found that Seals possessed cocaine with intent to distribute on June 28, 1987, when she was arrested with Hopkins. The evidence supports this finding. During a valid search, law enforcement officers recovered nine bags of cocaine in a pouch that matched Seals's purse. Seals admitted her possession of the cocaine in a state court proceeding, and the fact that the cocaine was divided into nine separate bags is sufficient evidence from which a jury could infer intent to distribute. 36 Seals was also involved in the murders of Ronald Anderson and Billy Patton, a rival cocaine dealer, and the post-murder review session following the death of Brian Hall. Ronnie Thomas testified that Seals attended the meeting where the JLO planned the shooting of Anderson. She also delivered the murder weapon to the location where the assassin, Thomas, obtained it later that night. Michael Lewis testified that Seals helped locate Billy Patton by introducing Jerry Lewis to Patton's sister-in-law, who then gave Lewis pertinent information on Billy. Tr. vol. 54 at 97. Ronnie Thomas further testified that Seals, along with Jerry Lewis and Amerson, attended a meeting following the murder of Brian Hall where the procedures used to carry out the killing were reviewed. 37 We conclude that the evidence is sufficient to show that Seals was a knowing member of the criminal enterprise.
38 Amerson's criminal association with Jerry Lewis dates at least to the early 1980s. Michael Lewis, Jerry Lewis's brother and Carlton Darden's brother-in-law, testified that Amerson was a part of the JLO when he joined in 1980 or 1981 and that Amerson was selling large amounts of T's and blues. Rudy Weaver testified that Amerson asked Weaver to recruit drug dealers from the prison in which Weaver was then incarcerated. Weaver also testified that, after Weaver had been released from prison, Amerson taught him how to create a spot in his car to hide drugs and guns and that Amerson actually installed such a spot in Weaver's car. This was done behind the MSTA building. According to Weaver, Amerson laundered drug money, received large amounts of cocaine, and broke down kilos of cocaine for redistribution at the JLO-managed Star and Crescent Market in 1988 and 1989. During that same time frame, Amerson travelled to Atlanta to pick up cocaine from a JLO source. 39 Amerson was also involved in the violent activities of the JLO. Ronnie Thomas testified that Amerson was involved in the elimination and intimidation of witnesses planning to testify against members of the JLO. Amerson, along with Michael Williams and Jerry Lewis, participated in the pre-killing surveillance of intended victims. Michael Lewis and Earl Parnell testified that Amerson shot and killed Bruce Hat Henry and either killed or participated in the killing of Harold Count Johnson, both loyal associates of rival drug dealer Lidell Bud Green. Lewis and Parnell also testified that Amerson murdered Billy Patton, a drug dealer who competed with the JLO, in late January 1989. After the killing, Amerson and other JLO members gathered at Jerry Lewis's house, toasted Patton's death, and laughed about the murder. 40 In sum, the evidence is clearly sufficient to show that Darden, Hopkins, Seals, and Amerson associated with the JLO, agreed to participate in the affairs of the JLO, and participated in the conduct of the JLO's affairs through patterns of racketeering activity.