Opinion ID: 781398
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Aggregation of multiple transactions to determine amount of methamphetamine involved

Text: 8 Gori alleges the District Court erred in determining that more than 500 grams of methamphetamine were involved in the conspiracy because no single sale or transaction involved over 500 grams. He argues that § 841(b)(1)(A) penalizes a violation of § 841(a) and that each sale or transaction should be viewed as a separate violation. He cites United States v. Winston, 37 F.3d 235, 240-41 (6th Cir.1994), for the proposition that a court may not aggregate multiple drug transactions in determining the amount of drugs involved for § 841(b) purposes. 9 We disagree. Winston's holding disallowing aggregation of multiple drug transactions for § 841(b) purposes did not extend to multiple drug transactions as part of a conspiracy. Here, all eight drug transactions comprise the conspiracy to which Gori pled guilty. While no Third Circuit case squarely addresses this issue, we find persuasive United States v. Pruitt, 156 F.3d 638, 644-45 (6th Cir.1998), which aggregated multiple transactions committed as part of a conspiracy in determining whether the amount of drugs involved reached § 841(b)'s threshold. The Court reasoned that a conspiracy is a single, unified offense. Id. at 644; see also United States v. Walker, 160 F.3d 1078, 1093 (6th Cir.1998) ([A] conspiracy is a single violation of the drug laws, and the fact that this particular conspiracy was characterized by separate transactions is a fact of no legal significance.); United States v. Reyes, 930 F.2d 310, 312 (3d Cir.1991) (noting that, because the conspiracy count... does not charge three separate offenses but a single offense, i.e., a conspiracy having multiple objectives[,] ... [t]he allegation in a single count of a conspiracy to commit several crimes is not duplicitous) (alteration in original) (quoting Braverman v. United States, 317 U.S. 49, 54, 63 S.Ct. 99, 87 L.Ed. 23 (1942)). 10 Even were we not to aggregate transactions in applying § 846, Gori's sentence would still be proper. United States v. Boone, 279 F.3d 163 (3d Cir.2002), in interpreting the U.S.S.G., noted that a sentence in a criminal conspiracy is based upon all relevant conduct and not merely offense conduct. Id. at 177. Therefore, in computing Gori's sentence under the U.S.S.G., the District Court was entitled to take into account the 500 grams of methamphetamine mixture involved in the conspiracy. 2 11