Opinion ID: 1288101
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Facts Presented at Trial and Mr. Hollins' Conviction

Text: Mr. Hollins was charged and convicted for his role in a scheme to smuggle cocaine from Jamaica. The indictment charged that he and others, including Carl Wilson, had conspired with Mark, their drug contact in Jamaica, to import cocaine into the United States. It also charged Mr. Hollins with two specific attempts to import cocaine into the United States and charged a third attempt involving only Wilson and Mark. At Mr. Hollins' trial, the Government produced substantial evidence of the two individual trips charged in the indictment. The first of these trips (the Reynolds trip) involved three women couriers, Sheron Reynolds, Tammie Dixon and LaTonya McDonald, who testified at Mr. Hollins' trial. According to the women, Reynolds had been recruited by Wilson, and she recruited Dixon and McDonald. Reynolds and Dixon met with both Wilson and Mr. Hollins before their trip, and the night before they left, all three women were briefed by both men. Mr. Hollins negotiated the women's fees, and Wilson transported them to the airport and provided them with significant cash for the deal. Upon arriving in Jamaica, the women were met at the airport by Marcus, the Jamaican contact. Marcus took them to a hotel where they stayed for several days. On the day before the women were scheduled to leave, Marcus arrived at the hotel and furnished them with pouches that contained cocaine, as well as lubricating jelly. He also instructed them on how to carry the cocaine in body cavities. The following day, Marcus returned and drove the women to the airport. Upon arriving at O'Hare Airport, the women were stopped by customs officials who discovered their illicit cargo. Mr. Hollins stipulated that the total amount of cocaine recovered from the women was 765 grams. On the basis of this incident, the jury convicted Mr. Hollins of attempted importation. The Government also charged Mr. Hollins with an attempt to import cocaine based on a trip taken by Carlos Stewart and his girlfriend (the Stewart trip). According to trial testimony, Mr. Hollins had recruited Stewart through Stewart's cousin, had paid Stewart's expenses and a fee and served as Stewart's contact while Stewart was in Jamaica. As the women involved in the Reynolds trip had testified, Wilson drove the couriers to the airport and provided the cash for the buy. Mark met them at the airport in Jamaica and took them to a hotel. He returned several days later with cocaine stashed in cans labeled as a Jamaican food product and drove the couple to the airport. Stewart was apprehended upon entering the United States and, Mr. Hollins stipulated, 1702.3 grams of cocaine were found in the cans. The jury acquitted Mr. Hollins of the attempt charge based on this incident. In addition to these specifically charged incidents, the Government also presented, in support of its general conspiracy charge, evidence at trial of an additional trip (the Clemons trip). According to trial testimony, Mr. Hollins asked Vincent Clemons to travel to Jamaica. Clemons paid for his own flight, but Mr. Hollins both arranged the flight and set Clemons up in a hotel once he arrived. Once Clemons was in the Jamaica hotel, Mr. Hollins contacted him and asked him to do Mr. Hollins a favor by bringing something back to the United States. He told him that a man named Mark would be in touch shortly with directions. Mark later called Clemons and arranged a meeting. At the meeting, Mark told Clemons that he would be smuggling liquid cocaine into the United States in champagne bottles that he could purchase from a certain duty-free store in the Jamaican airport. Clemons did as instructed and was not apprehended on his entry to the United States. He turned over the bottles to Mr. Hollins. Aside from the trip expenses and reimbursement of the $45 cost of the champagne, Clemons testified that he received no additional compensation. The Government produced Clemons' customs declaration from this trip on which he had claimed six bottles of champagne. Based on the above evidence presented at trial, the jury convicted Mr. Hollins of the conspiracy charge.