Opinion ID: 45376
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Fire Arm Possession

Text: The Sentencing Guidelines provide a two level increase “[i]f a dangerous weapon (including a firearm) was possessed.” U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1). “The adjustment should be applied if the weapon was present, unless it is clearly 8 improbable that the weapon was connected with the offense.” Id. at cmt. n.3. [F]or a § 2D1.1(b)(1) firearms enhancement for co-conspirator possession to be applied to a convicted defendant, the government must prove by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) the possessor of the firearm was a co-conspirator, (2) the possession was in furtherance of the conspiracy, (3) the defendant was a member of the conspiracy at the time of possession, and (4) the co-conspirator possession was reasonably foreseeable by the defendant. Gallo, 195 F.3d at 1284 (footnote omitted) (emphasis removed). Once the government has shown that a firearm was present at the site of the charged conduct, “the evidentiary burden shifts to the defendant to show that a connection between the firearm and the offense is clearly improbable.” United States v. Fields, 408 F.3d 1356, 1359 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, __ U.S. __, 126 S. Ct. 221 (2005). We observed that it was not clearly improbable that coconspirators trafficking in lucrative drug deals to “[feel] the need to protect their inventory and proceeds as well as themselves while they were engaging in that high risk activity.” Id. at 1359. In this case, the district court did not err in finding that Borrero failed to meet his burden of showing that it was clearly improbable that the firearms were connected with the drug conspiracy. Borrero does not dispute that the deceased drug representative was a co-conspirator or that Borrero was a member of the conspiracy at the time of possession. In addition, the foreseeability prong is satisfied because Borrero admits that he saw the rifle upon boarding, and it would 9 have been reasonably foreseeable that the drug representative would have been armed. Finally, Borrero has failed to establish that the connection between the firearm and the drug conspiracy was clearly improbable because the drug representative brought the gun on board to protect the cocaine and the coconspirators, as they were engaged in a high-risk activity.