Opinion ID: 415511
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute.

Text: 24 The final contention of Michelena-Orovio is that there was not sufficient evidence to convict him of conspiring to possess marijuana with intent to distribute it in the United States. The contention poses a dilemma, for this Court has developed two distinct lines of precedent as to the evidence that is sufficient to warrant conviction for the offense when the accused is a member of the crew of a ship apprehended with contraband on the high seas. One line of cases, starting with United States v. Cadena, 5 Cir.1978, 585 F.2d 1252, has held that the government cannot rely only on the size of the cache to prove the elements of a conspiracy to possess contraband with intent to distribute it in the United States. The other line of cases, starting with United States v. Mann, 5 Cir.1980, 615 F.2d 668, cert. denied, 1981, 450 U.S. 994, 101 S.Ct. 1694, 68 L.Ed.2d 193, held, without discussing Cadena, 2 that the jury may infer, from the size of the cache, intent to distribute the contraband, knowledge of the conspiracy, and agreement to join the conspiracy. We choose to resolve this conflict by following Cadena because it is the first of our cases to consider the problem before us, has never been specifically overruled, and is in our view better-reasoned than Mann and its progeny. 3 25 In Cadena, we reversed the conviction of a sea captain whose ship had transferred a large quantity of marijuana to a smaller craft at a point 200 miles south of the Florida coast. The Cadena Court, speaking through Judge Alvin Rubin, was unwilling to infer knowledge of and participation in a conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute based on the size of the cache without greater proof of a knowing agreement to join that conspiracy: 26 As to Cadena, ..., there was no evidence that he knew of a distribution scheme when he conspired to import the marijuana. Unlike the situation presented by an ongoing enterprise, Cadena had no interest in or awareness of what plans, if any, had been reached to dispose of the marijuana once he reached these shores. Although a conspiracy to import facilitates a conspiracy to distribute, one cannot [join] a conspiracy, whether by conduct or verbal accord, unless one knows that it has in fact been concocted.... [F]rom Cadena's perspective, it was not apparent that any accord had yet been reached, either tacitly or otherwise. 27 585 F.2d at 1266. 28 United States v. Rodriguez, 5 Cir., 585 F.2d 1234, 1245, aff'd, 1978, 612 F.2d 906 (en banc), aff'd sub. nom. Albernaz v. United States, 1981, 450 U.S. 333, 101 S.Ct. 1137, 67 L.Ed.2d 275, was a companion case to Cadena. Rodriguez involved the prosecution of four persons who were to receive the marijuana on Cadena's boat. Although we affirmed the convictions of two defendants for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, we reversed the convictions of two men who had not specifically made arrangements to participate in the distribution of the marijuana. Again speaking through Judge Rubin, we said: 29 However, there was literally no evidence with respect to the involvement of Martins and Smigowski in a distribution scheme except what might be inferred from their participation in an agreement to import it. The direct and circumstantial evidence that they were peripheral participants in the importation scheme does not refute, beyond a reasonable doubt, the hypothesis that they had no knowledge of a conspiracy to distribute once it reached these shores. 30 Unlike Rodriguez and Albernaz, who perforce had to make some arrangements to dispose of their treasure, Smigowski and Martins could each receive his reward and be done with the scheme. Unlike Rodriguez and Albernaz, who, according to the evidence, had contacts outside the Miami area, needed front money, and planned to use Winnebagos, Smigowski or Martins were not shown to have been connected with the actual arrangements for importation. 31 There was evidence that Smigowski and Martins were parties to the importation scheme, but there is no evidence that would establish beyond reasonable doubt that they would likely come in possession of the haul once it arrived, share in its proceeds thereafter, or other evidence from which it could in turn be inferred that they were privy to plans to distribute the contraband. We have already noted that possession of a large supply of a prohibited substance may justify the inference that the possessor intended to distribute it, but there was no evidence that Smigowski and Martins had sufficient dominion over or interest in the marijuana to warrant the inference. 32 585 F.2d at 1247 (affirmed in pertinent part, 612 F.2d at 908-09 n. 3). 4 In both Cadena and Rodriguez, the Court was unwilling to infer that there was an agreement to distribute marijuana based on the existence of the conspiracy to import and on the size of the cache without more evidence of the defendants' involvement in the distribution scheme. 33 Several subsequent opinions are inconsistent with Cadena and Rodriguez. In United States v. Mann, 5 Cir.1980, 615 F.2d 668, cert. denied, 1981, 450 U.S. 994, 101 S.Ct. 1694, 68 L.Ed.2d 193, the Court held that the defendants, who were American citizens, were properly convicted of conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute it in the United States when they were caught at sea on an American vessel loaded with 22,500 pounds of marijuana. The Court reasoned that the mere size of the cache and the presence of a conspiracy to import the marijuana allowed the jury to infer intent to distribute and participation in a conspiracy to distribute. In a number of cases after Mann, this Court has followed Mann to reach this same result. See, for example, United States v. Mazyak, 5 Cir.1981, 650 F.2d 788, cert. denied, 1982, 455 U.S. 922, 102 S.Ct. 1281, 71 L.Ed.2d 464; United States v. Shelnut, 5 Cir.1980, 625 F.2d 59, cert. denied, 1981, 450 U.S. 983, 101 S.Ct. 1520, 67 L.Ed.2d 818. 34 The government contends that Mann and its progeny are better-reasoned and more consistent with conspiracy law than Cadena and Rodriguez. The government argues that an agreement to possess marijuana with intent to distribute may be inferred from the quantity of marijuana imported. In this case, twelve tons of marijuana is more than a mere mortal crew of eight could ever consume; therefore, the members of the crew intended to join in the scheme to distribute the contraband. In the absence of a legal market to dispose of the contraband, there is no reason to import unless there is a plan for distribution. Finally, the government argues that the act of importation is in furtherance of the conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, for there would be no distribution without marijuana to distribute. The government overlooks the gulf between the rational inference that someone would distribute the imported marijuana and the irrational inference that an ordinary member of the crew knowingly and intentionally joined the scheme to distribute the marijuana. 35 The government relies partially on United States v. Bruno, 2 Cir.1939, 105 F.2d 921, rev'd on other grounds, 1939, 308 U.S. 287, 60 S.Ct. 198, 84 L.Ed. 257, to argue that conspiracies to distribute narcotics should be analyzed as chains or interconnected links--conspiracies in which a participant in part of the conspiracy may be convicted of participation in the whole. In Bruno, the defendants were convicted of a conspiracy to import, sell, and possess narcotics. The defendants argued that separate conspiracies were involved--one between the smugglers and the middlemen and one between the middlemen and each group of retailers. The Court rejected this argument and recognized the interdependence of participants in a drug distribution scheme: 36 The evidence did not disclose any cooperation or communication between the smugglers and either group of retailers, or between the two groups of retailers themselves; however, the smugglers knew that the middlemen must sell to retailers, and the retailers knew that the middlemen must buy of importers of one sort or another. Thus the conspirators at one end of the chain knew that the unlawful business would not, and could not, stop with their buyers; and those at the other end knew that it had not begun with their sellers. That being true, a jury might have found that all the accused were embarked upon a venture, in all parts of which each as a participant, and an abettor in the sense that the success of that part with which he was immediately concerned, was dependent upon the success of the whole. 37 105 F.2d at 922. The government argues that Bruno and other cases 5 support the holding that suppliers of narcotics such as Michelena-Orovio may be convicted for participation in the entire distribution scheme. This is a question-begging argument. 38 The issue is whether a jury could reasonably infer that a crew member of a vessel on the high seas knowingly and voluntarily joined the conspiracy to distribute and had the required intent to distribute based on the size of the cache and his participation in the conspiracy to import. An inference is a deduction, warranted by human reason and experience, that the trier of fact may make on the basis of established facts--a process of reasoning from premise to conclusion without the directive force of a rule of law, which characterizes a presumption. Louisell, Construing Rule 301: Instructing the Jury on Presumptions in Civil Actions and Proceedings, 63 Va.L.Rev. 281 (1977). In the case of an inference, the existence of B may be deduced from A by the ordinary rules of reason and logic. 1 J. Weinstein & M. Berger, Weinstein's Evidence Sec. 300. The effect of an inference, if any, is based upon logic and experience, not upon law. Gausewitz, Presumptions in a One-Rule World, 5 Vand.L.Rev. 324, 327 (1952). To be legitimate or permissible, an inference must be deduced as a logical consequence of facts presented in evidence, and there must be a logical and rational connection between the facts in evidence and the fact to be inferred. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 3 Cir.1980, 635 F.2d 188, 194; see National Industries, Inc. v. Republic National Life Insurance Co., 9 Cir.1982, 677 F.2d 1258, 1267; Fenner v. General Motors Corp., 5 Cir.1981, 657 F.2d 647, 651, cert. denied, 1982, 455 U.S. 942, 102 S.Ct. 1435, 71 L.Ed.2d 653; Wilson v. Winstead, E.D.Tenn.1978, 470 F.Supp. 263, 268. 6 39 Based on logic and common experience, evidence that a crew member was caught on the high seas in a conspiracy to import marijuana does not warrant the inference that he knew of or voluntarily agreed to join a conspiracy to distribute marijuana in the United States. The size of the cache may allow an inference that someone at some unknown location plans to distribute the marijuana, but it does not warrant pyramiding an inference that a mere crew member was such a person nor does it refute beyond a reasonable doubt the hypothesis that he did not join in the conspiracy or even know of it. When there is no evidence that a crew member had a stake in the venture or awareness of or interest in the distribution of the contraband, the logical inference is that the crew member joined in a conspiracy to import marijuana to a point on the high seas without any knowledge of, joinder in, or participation in the conspiracy to distribute. This inference is especially rational with respect to Michelena-Orovio because he lacked any contacts with the United States at all. This case is even stronger than Cadena because here the parties stipulated that the defendant, unlike Cadena, was not the captain of the vessel. It is stronger than Rodriguez because the defendants acquitted of the conspiracy to distribute in that case were Americans who were more actively involved than Michelena-Orovio in the conspiracy to import. 40 We conclude that the reasoning of Cadena is logical and does not require an attenuated chain of inferences to justify its result. This result comports with this Court's admonition that  'proof of an agreement to enter a conspiracy is not to be lightly inferred.'  United States v. White, 5 Cir.1978, 569 F.2d 263, 267 (quoting United States v. Johnson, 5 Cir., 439 F.2d 885, 888, cert. denied, 1971, 404 U.S. 880, 92 S.Ct. 213, 30 L.Ed.2d 161), reversing a conviction under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 846 for conspiracy to possess heroin with intent to distribute because of insufficient evidence of the existence of the conspiracy. 41 The rationale of Cadena is also consistent with the general law of conspiracy. In Direct Sales Co. v. United States, 1943, 319 U.S. 703, 63 S.Ct. 1265, 87 L.Ed. 1674, a drug manufacturer and wholesaler had supplied large amounts of morphine sulphate to a doctor for several years. The government charged the manufacturer with conspiracy to distribute narcotics unlawfully because the amounts of morphine supplied were so large that the manufacturer must have known that the doctor was distributing them illegally. 7 The court held that: 42 When the evidence discloses such a system, working in prolonged cooperation with a physician's unlawful purpose to supply him with his stock in trade for his illicit enterprise, there is no legal obstacle to finding that the supplier not only knows and acquiesces, but joins both mind and hand with him to make its accomplishment possible. The step from knowledge to intent and agreement may be taken. There is more than suspicion, more than knowledge, acquiescence, carelessness, indifference, lack of concern. There is informed and interested cooperation, stimulation, instigation, and there is also a stake in the venture which, even if it may not be essential, is not irrelevant to the question of conspiracy. 43 319 U.S. at 713, 63 S.Ct. at 1270, 87 L.Ed. at 1682 (footnote omitted and emphasis supplied). 44 There was no evidence in Cadena of prolonged cooperation or of the defendant's stake in the venture. 8 Cadena had no concern as to what was to become of the contraband, and his involvement would have come to an end when the narcotics were delivered on the high seas. The Court in Direct Sales, like the Court in Cadena, recognized that not every instance of sale of restricted goods ... in which the seller knows the buyer intends to use them unlawfully, will support a charge of conspiracy. Direct Sales, 319 U.S. at 712, 63 S.Ct. 1269, 87 L.Ed. at 1682. Cadena's involvement, and that of Michelena-Orovio, is more like the conduct discussed in Direct Sales which was found to be insufficient to constitute a conspiracy: 45 This may be true, for instance, of single or casual transactions, not amounting to a course of business, regular, sustained and prolonged, and involving nothing more on the seller's part than indifference to the buyer's illegal purpose and passive acquiescence in his desire to purchase, for whatever end. A considerable degree of carelessness coupled with casual transactions is tolerable outside the boundary of conspiracy. There may also be a fairly broad latitude of immunity for a more continuous course of sales, made either with strong suspicion of the buyer's wrongful use or with knowledge, but without stimulation or active incitement to purchase. 46 319 U.S. at 712 n.8, 63 S.Ct. at 1269-70 n.8, 87 L.Ed. at 1682 n.8. Direct Sales supports the conclusion of Cadena that a disinterested knowledge that goods supplied may be put to an unlawful use is insufficient to convict a supplier of participation in a conspiracy to distribute. 9 47 Under Cadena, the conviction of Michelena-Orovio for conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute must be reversed for lack of evidence. Like Cadena, this case involves a single transaction and not prolonged cooperation with a distributor. There is no evidence that Michelena-Orovio had a stake in the proceeds of the distribution or had any involvement in or knowledge of the scheme to distribute the marijuana once it was in the United States. As far as the record goes, it was more probable than not that Michelena-Orovio, who lives with his family in Colombia 10 and speaks no English, agreed only to serve as a crew member on a vessel delivering marijuana to a point 150-200 miles off the coast of the United States and to return home thereafter. The facts of this case do not warrant the inference that Michelena-Orovio was part of a conspiracy to distribute but are at war with this inference. See Fenner, 657 F.2d at 651. Whether his conduct was, in itself, illegal (a violation of the law against conspiracy to import) is irrelevant to his state of mind with respect to another crime (the later violation of the law against conspiracy to distribute). At most, the defendant was indifferent as to any distribution scheme. His involvement began and ended on a ship two hundred miles from the United States. We conclude that a reasonably-minded juror could not rationally find a knowing and voluntary agreement to join a conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute it within the United States merely from the fact that a Columbian national is a crew member of a foreign vessel delivering a large load of marijuana to a point on the high seas.