Opinion ID: 2967453
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: simms

Text: Simms raises three challenges with respect to his CCE conviction. To establish a conviction for engaging in a CCE, the Government must prove the following five elements: (1) the defendant committed a felony violation of the federal drug laws; (2) such violation was part of a continuing series of violations of the drug laws; (3) the series of violations were undertaken by defendant in concert with five or more persons; (4) the defendant served as an organizer or supervisor, or in another management capacity with respect to these other persons; and (5) the defendant derived substantial income or resources from the continuing series of violations. 21 U.S.C.A. § 848(c).
Simms first challenges the district court's jury instruction with respect to his CCE conviction. Specifically, Simms contends that the district court erred by failing to instruct the jury that it must unanimously agree as to which three violations of Title 21 constituted the series of transactions that comprised the CCE. After Simms was convicted and sentenced, the Supreme Court held that, in a prosecution for engaging in a CCE under 21 U.S.C.A. § 848, the jury must agree unanimously about which three crimes the defendant committed. Richardson v. United States, 526 U.S. 813, 818 (1999). Because Simms failed to object to the CCE jury instruction before the district court, we review for plain error. See United States v. Lewis, 235 F.3d 215, 218 (4th Cir. 2000). To establish plain error, Simms must demonstrate: (1) that error occurred; (2) that the error was plain; (3) that the error affected his substantial rights; and (4) that the error seriously affected the fairness, integrity or public reputation of the judicial proceeding. United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732 (1993) (internal quotation marks 31 omitted). Here, the district court failed to instruct the jury on this unanimity requirement because at the time, Fourth Circuit precedent did not require such an instruction. See United States v. Hall, 93 F.3d 126, 129-30 (4th Cir. 1996) (holding that the jury was not required to unanimously agree that three or more drug violations were related to each other), overruled by Richardson v. United States, 526 U.S. 813 (1999). Thus, the jury instruction was erroneous, establishing the first prong of the plain error test. Likewise, the error was plain. As the Supreme Court noted in Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461 (1997), where the law at the time of trial was settled and clearly contrary to the law at the time of appeal -- it is enough that an error be `plain' at the time of appellate consideration. Id. at 468. Although the first two prongs of the plain error test have been established, Simms cannot demonstrate that the error affected his substantial rights.19 19 The requirement that the error affect substantial rights typically means that the defendant is prejudiced by the error in that it affected the outcome of the proceedings. United States v. Rolle, 204 F.3d 133, 138 (4th Cir. 2000). To establish the type of prejudice required by the third prong of the plain error test, Simms must demonstrate that the erroneous . . . instruction given by the district court resulted in his conviction. United States v. Hastings, 134 F.3d 235, 243-44 (4th Cir. 1998). Under plain error review, the burden is upon the defendant to prove that the error was not harmless. Id. at 240. In this case, Simms was charged and unanimously found guilty of four counts of illegal use of a communication device, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 843(b), and six counts of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(a)(1). These offenses are the type of violations that constitute predicate offenses for purposes of the CCE conviction. 21 U.S.C.A.§ 848(c)(1).2020 Thus, _________________________________________________________________ 19 We previously have held that a Richardson error is not a structural defect and is subject to harmless error review. United States v. Brown, 202 F.3d 691, 699 (4th Cir. 2000). 20 The CCE count is charged in the indictment in Count 2. Count 2 provides that the charged predicate offenses of the CCE are, knowingly and intentionally violat[ing] Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841, 843(b) and 846, including, but not limited to, those violations alleged in 32 the jury unanimously agreed that Simms was guilty of more than three predicate offenses that comprise the CCE conviction. Cf. United States v. Stitt, 250 F.3d 878 (4th Cir. 2001) (holding that a CCE conviction was proper under plain error review when Stitt was charged and unanimously found guilty of more than three qualifying predicate offenses). Accordingly, we conclude that the district court's failure to instruct as to the unanimity requirement is not reversible under the plain error test because Simms has failed to establish that he was prejudiced by the error.
Next, Simms argues that his CCE conviction should be reversed because the Government failed to introduce sufficient evidence that Simms acted as an organizer, supervisor, or manager of a CCE. We uphold the jury verdict if there is substantial evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, to support it. United States v. Wilson, 135 F.3d 291, 303 (4th Cir. 1998). The management element is given a common sense reading, bearing in mind that the statute is intended to reach the leaders of the drug trade. Id. (internal quotations omitted). Several of Simms' co-conspirators testified that they worked for Simms, who they testified was the head of the drug distribution ring in Virginia. They testified that Simms recruited people into the drug distribution ring, and that Simms gave them instructions regarding how and when to sell the marijuana. Simms also was responsible for choosing the principal supplier of marijuana for distribution. Viewing this evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, it is more than sufficient to support the jury's determination that Simms was an organizer, supervisor, or manager of a CCE involving the predicate offenses of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. _________________________________________________________________ the instant indictment, which are realleged and incorporated by reference herein. (J.A. at 166.) Simms was convicted of violating § 843(b) in Counts 262, 264, 267, and 270 and § 841(a)(1) in Counts 299, 304, 30607, 311, and 314. Thus, these ten substantive convictions are violations . . . alleged to be predicate violations constituting the continuing series and exceed the number of predicate violations required for a CCE conviction. United States v. Brown, 202 F.3d 691, 699 (4th Cir. 2000). 33
Simms also contends that his CCE conviction should be reversed because the Government failed to introduce sufficient evidence that Simms acted in concert with five or more people in furtherance of the CCE. We conclude that substantial evidence supports this element of Simms's CCE conviction. Co-conspirator Trevor Smith testified that he and several others, including Damion Chambers, Conrad Anglin, Philip Daly, and Claude Jackson, came to Virginia at the request of Simms to aid in the selling and distribution of marijuana. Co-conspirators Crumble and Dixon also testified that they retrieved marijuana packages and sold marijuana under the leadership of Simms. The Government introduced wiretapped conversations in which Crumble and Dixon separately spoke with Simms regarding transfers of marijuana and drug proceeds; each identified their voices. Sean Rainey, Kelvin Thomas, Patrick Crooks, and Terrence Everett all testified that they bought large quantities of marijuana from Simms, which they later resold. Thomas further testified that he had been employed with UPS and that Simms had requested that Thomas ensure that the UPS packages would get to Virginia from California without being intercepted. These facts provide substantial evidence that Simms was acting in concert with five or more people in committing the predicate offenses of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.21 21 _________________________________________________________________ 21 In Simms's brief, he argues that if his CCE conviction is sustained, his drug conspiracy conviction under Count 1 must be vacated as a lesser-included offense within the CCE. See United States v. Brown, 202 F.3d 691, 703 (4th Cir. 2000) (noting that a drug conspiracy is a lesser included offense to a CCE charge and that it was error for the district court to impose punishment with respect to both offenses). Because the district court recognized that the drug conspiracy conviction was a lesserincluded offense to the CCE, it withheld the imposition of a sentence and assessment with respect to that count. Thus, Simms has not been subjected to impermissible double punishment. Id. (alteration and internal quotation marks omitted). Accordingly, we find no reversible error. 34
Finally, Simms challenges his sentence with respect to one of his convictions for possession with intent to distribute marijuana on the basis of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000). With respect to Count 314, Simms received a sentence of 240 months, which was imposed concurrently with his sentence of 832 months. Simms contends that because drug quantity was not charged as an element of the offense and found by the jury beyond a reasonable doubt, the maximum statutory term of imprisonment for Count 314 is 5 years, or 60 months. See 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(b)(1)(D). Having failed to raise Apprendi before the district court, we review this challenge for plain error. The failure to charge drug quantity and type constitutes an error under Apprendi; however, we conclude that the Apprendi error did not affect Simm's substantial rights. To establish that the error affected his substantial rights, Simms must demonstrate that it was prejudicial, i.e., that it actually affected the outcome of the proceedings. Hastings, 134 F.3d at 240. Thus, Simms must demonstrate that the 240-month sentence that was imposed by the district court was longer than that to which he would otherwise be subject. Pursuant to United States v. White, 238 F.3d 537 (4th Cir. 2001), we conclude that Simms cannot make this showing. In White, we noted that, [i]n the case of multiple counts of conviction, the guidelines instruct that if the total punishment mandated by the guidelines exceeds the highest statutory maximum, the district court must impose consecutive terms of imprisonment to the extent necessary to achieve the total punishment. See id. at 543 (citing U.S.S.G. § 5G1.2(d)). Simms was convicted of six counts of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. The district court determined that, under the guidelines, Simms should be held accountable for between 1,000 and 3,000 kilograms of marijuana. After grouping, the guideline range for these offenses was 292-365 months. Assuming that Simms is correct to assert that the statutory maximum for each count is 60 months, to reach the appropriate guideline sentence for that quantity of drugs, the district court would have been obligated to impose the sentences for each substantive drug conviction consecutively until reaching a total sentence of more than 240 months. See 35 White, 238 F.3d at 542 ([T]he district court would have been obligated to reach that total sentence by imposing a term of imprisonment of 240 months or less on each count of conviction and ordering those terms to be served consecutively to achieve the total punishment mandated by the guidelines.). Accordingly, we decline to notice the Apprendi error with respect to Count 314.