Opinion ID: 784866
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sufficiency of Evidence As to Drug Quantities (Soto-Ramírez, Soto-Beníquez, Cintrón-Caraballo, Vega-Colón, Vega-Cosme)

Text: 207 Five defendants argue, separate from their Apprendi claims, that the district court erred in determining the amount of drugs attributable to them. They argue that the evidence does not establish by a preponderance the quantity or type of drugs necessary to support the calculation of their base offense levels. We review factual determinations at sentencing for clear error. United States v. Damon, 127 F.3d 139, 141 (1st Cir.1997). 208 The district court's determinations of drug amounts were not clearly erroneous. Under the Sentencing Guidelines, each defendant must be sentenced based on the amount of drugs that he handled, negotiated, saw, or could reasonably have foreseen to be embraced by the conspiracy. Rodriguez, 162 F.3d at 149; U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3 & cmt. 2. Applying this standard, the district court attributed at least 1.5 kilograms of crack cocaine to each of the five defendants, resulting in a base offense level of 38 for each. 209 The record at trial and sentencing supports this calculation. Negrón-Maldonado testified that Soto-Ramírez sold 300 crack capsules to Cintrón-Caraballo on at least ten occasions in 1990, which amounts to 450 grams of crack cocaine. He also testified that at the beginning of 1990, Soto-Ramírez supplied him with 1000 to 1500 crack capsules, or about 150 to 200 grams, per week. Assuming that these purchases continued for at least seven weeks, Soto-Ramírez would have distributed 1.5 kilograms of crack cocaine just from sales to Cintrón-Caraballo and Negrón-Maldonado in 1990. Furthermore, according to Negrón-Maldonado's testimony, during early 1992, Negrón-Maldonado cooked one to three kilograms of cocaine into crack cocaine per week for Soto-Ramírez's points. In one and a half weeks, Negrón-Maldonado would have packaged at least 1.5 kilograms of crack cocaine for distribution at Soto Ramírez's points. Although Soto-Ramírez was in prison at this time, the drug quantity was reasonably foreseeable to him because he was still supervising his drug points by telephone. 210 The government presented evidence that Soto-Beníquez supplied other members of the conspiracy with cocaine, which they converted into at least 1.5 kilograms of crack cocaine and distributed at their respective drug points. Negrón-Maldonado testified that each week in early 1992, he bought one to three kilograms of cocaine from Soto-Beníquez and converted it into crack cocaine. Over two weeks, this would exceed the required 1.5 kilograms. Negrón-Maldonado also testified that Soto-Beníquez supplied Cintrón-Caraballo with 125 grams of cocaine per week and Negrón-Maldonado with 75 to 125 grams of cocaine per week, which was converted into crack cocaine for sale at their respective drug points. Over eight weeks, this would exceed the required 1.5 kilograms. Soto-Beníquez protests that he could not have reasonably foreseen that the cocaine he supplied would be converted into crack cocaine. The district court had sufficient evidence to conclude otherwise. Negrón-Maldonado testified that Soto-Beníquez's house was used, repeatedly, as a location for converting cocaine into crack cocaine. He also testified that when Cosme-Sobrado was killed, Soto-Beníquez picked up the proceeds from Soto-Ramírez's crack cocaine point and determined that money was missing. Bitumul is a small community; given Soto-Beníquez's involvement, it would be difficult for him to be wholly ignorant that his co-conspirators were producing crack cocaine. These activities and Soto-Beníquez's leadership role in the conspiracy are sufficient to support the conclusion that Soto-Beníquez knew Negrón-Maldonado and Cintrón-Caraballo sold crack cocaine at their points and that he could have reasonably foreseen that the cocaine he supplied to them would be converted into crack cocaine. 211 Cintrón-Caraballo's crack cocaine point was in operation throughout the duration of the conspiracy, according to Negrón-Maldonado's testimony. Negrón-Maldonado testified that Cintrón-Caraballo purchased over 90 grams of crack cocaine per week for distribution at his point in 1990, 125 grams per week in 1991, 125 grams on a regular basis in 1992, and over 150 grams per week in early 1993. Assuming that Cintrón-Caraballo's drug point operated at least four weeks each year, the total amount of crack cocaine purchased for distribution would exceed 1.5 kilograms. 212 Negrón-Maldonado testified that the drug point operated by Vega-Cosme and Vega-Colón sold crack cocaine in 1990, 1992, and 1993. Negrón-Maldonado estimated that one drug point distributing crack cocaine would usually sell at least one kilogram per month. That volume of sales alone is sufficient to exceed the required 1.5 kilograms. In addition, the government presented evidence indicating that the quantity of crack cocaine sold by Negrón-Maldonado and Cintrón-Caraballo was reasonably foreseeable to Vega-Cosme. Vega-Cosme met at least three times with the others to coordinate the color of the caps on their respective crack capsules. These meetings are evidence that Vega-Cosme had some awareness of his co-conspirators' crack cocaine sales and that, after color-coding was instituted, he had some way of tracking their activities. 213 In response, all five defendants argue that this evidence is unreliable because it is based on the testimony of cooperating co-conspirators and was uncorroborated. Vega-Colón and Vega-Cosme argue in their brief that absent a rule requiring corroboration of such evidence, unsuspecting defendants would be entirely at the mercy of cooperating co-defendants, who have all the incentive in the world to testify in a manner [whether truthful or not] that will assist the government in obtaining a larger sentence. That risk is real, but vacating their sentences for lack of corroboration is not the answer. 11 Here, the cooperating co-defendants were vigorously cross-examined, and defense counsel had the opportunity to present evidence of the witnesses's plea agreements, grants of immunity, and receipt of government money. If the government's dilatory production of discovery materials had impeded the cross-examination, the situation might be different. But it did not. The jury found the co-conspirators credible, and, for sentencing purposes, so did the trial court. These plausible credibility determinations cannot be disturbed on appeal. Cf. Torres-Galindo, 206 F.3d at 139-40 (Uncorroborated testimony of a cooperating accomplice may sustain a conviction so long as that testimony is not facially incredible....). 214