Opinion ID: 584174
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Roulette's Firearm Conviction

Text: 44 Roulette argues the Government presented insufficient evidence to convict him of count VIII, using a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime on May 30, 1990, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 924(c)(1) (West Supp.1991). Roulette argues that he could not have been using the two guns found in his bedroom for drug trafficking because he was not in the house when police arrested him. Reading the evidence in a light reasonably favorable to the Government, we reject this argument. Sanders and Tisinger testified at trial that Roulette owned both the guns found in his bedroom on May 30 lying beside large amounts of drugs. A defendant need not hold, display, brandish or discharge a weapon to be guilty of using a weapon under 18 U.S.C.A. § 924(c)(1). [T]he mere presence and ready availability of a firearm at a house where drugs are dealt constitutes the 'use' of a gun during a narcotics offense. United States v. Drew, 894 F.2d 965, 968 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1089, 110 S.Ct. 1830, 108 L.Ed.2d 959 (1990). In this case, the jury had evidence that Roulette dealt drugs out of his bedroom, that the guns in his bedroom were in his possession and control and that Roulette used the guns during commission of a drug trafficking crime.