Opinion ID: 785776
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Theodore Shaw's Transportation of Marijuana (Count Six)

Text: 28 Theodore Shaw testified that he had been a marijuana customer of Gaskin's for several months when, in May 1999, Gaskin proposed that Shaw drive a motor home containing marijuana from Phoenix to Rochester in return for $2,000 — $1,000 in advance and $1,000 upon delivery. 29 Accepting Gaskin's offer and following his directions, Shaw rented a motor home in Rochester and drove to Phoenix, arriving on June 8, 1999. That day, Gaskin met Shaw at a Phoenix motel to arrange for the motor home to be driven to the loading location. Shaw told Gaskin that a set of keys was inside the vehicle and that Gaskin could move it to wherever he wished. Later that evening, Gaskin called Shaw to tell him he could leave. The next morning, Shaw began to drive the motor home back to Rochester. 30 On June 11, Shaw was stopped by Oklahoma state highway authorities, who found four bundles of marijuana, weighing approximately eighty-six pounds, hidden underneath the motor home's bed frame. While placing Shaw under arrest, the officers seized a cell phone whose number was assigned to Gaskin.
31 Shaw agreed to cooperate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in making a controlled delivery of the marijuana. On June 17, 1999, Shaw placed a monitored, recorded telephone call to Gaskin reporting his arrival in Rochester and cautioning that the stuff was beginning to smell. The two men agreed to meet a few hours later in the parking lot of a Carvel ice cream store. 32 FBI agents who surveilled the meeting testified that Gaskin arrived at the parking lot in a Honda Accord, accompanied by his seventeen-year-old son. Leaving his son in the car, Gaskin walked over to Shaw and asked the courier how he was going to get home. Shaw, who was recording their conversation by means of a concealed body wire, responded by asking Gaskin how long he needed the motor home and offering to pass the time in the ice cream store. When Shaw inquired about payment, Gaskin assured him that he had the money with him, whereupon Shaw gave Gaskin a set of keys. As Gaskin got in the driver's seat of the motor home and tried to start the vehicle, federal agents placed him under arrest. 33
34 Incident to arrest, agents searched Gaskin and seized $3,895 in cash and a cell phone. Telephone records showed that the seized cell phone was the device used to contact various co-conspirators at times pertinent to the different marijuana transports. FBI agents also searched Gaskin's Honda, seizing $16,000 in cash from a shoe box found in the trunk of the car, as well as various papers linking Gaskin to M.A. Muhammad, Mustafa Muhammad, Kevin Miller, and Bonnie. Initially agreeing to speak with federal authorities, Gaskin disclaimed any knowledge of the seized $16,000 and stated that the money did not belong to him. He further denied having recently been in Phoenix. 35