Opinion ID: 618190
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Testimony of John Parker

Text: John Parker testified that he met Michael Pelletier while both were incarcerated in a Maine county jail in 2004 and 2005. After casual conversations between the two led Parker to reveal that he was skilled in the martial arts, Pelletier offered him a job both induc[ing] collections and sales and swimming marijuana from Canada across the St. John River into Maine. Parker expressed interest in the job, and Pelletier, expecting Parker to be released first, provided him oral and written instructions regarding the drug operation. Pelletier also invited Parker to stay at his house while Parker was working for him, and provided him with handwritten maps and directions. Pelletier's handwritten instructions consisted of pages dedicated to each of his customers, which Parker annotated with his own handwritten notes. One page indicated that Fogg was a customer of Pelletier's, and included Pelletier's handwritten instructions on finding Fogg's home and the price Fogg would have to pay for marijuana that Parker delivered to him. Parker testified that a second page with Fogg's name on it indicated that Fogg received five pounds of marijuana per purchase and that he owed Pelletier two debts of $25,000 and $12,000, respectively. Fogg claims that neither Pelletier's statements to Parker nor the notes he provided to Parker were made during the conspiracy or were in furtherance of the conspiracy. Once again, however, we discern no error in the admission of this evidence. Fogg first argues that the conspiracy ended with Pelletier's November 2004 incarceration, which was before his exchange of information with Parker. The record suggests otherwise. Pelletier's arrest did not mandate a finding that the conspiracy had ended. See United States v. Hudson, 970 F.2d 948, 958 (1st Cir.1992) (finding that arrest of one coconspirator did not end defendant's involvement). Moreover, as Cyr's testimony made clear, both drug delivery and money collection continued after Pelletier's arrest. In addition, Fogg himself testified that the meeting with Cyr to pay down drug debts took place in approximately September 2005, well after Pelletier's arrest. Finally, we observe that the indictment charges that the conspiracy continued until a date unknown, but not earlier than March 31, 2006. . . . We thus conclude that Pelletier's oral and written statements to Parker were made during the course of the conspiracy. We reach the same conclusion with respect to the statements' furtherance of the conspiracy. Where, as here, Parker testified that Pelletier wanted him to take over everything for him, we are left with no doubt that the statements at issue were made to advance the objects of the conspiracy. Rodriguez, 525 F.3d at 101. Accordingly, there was no error in the admission of Parker's testimony.