Opinion ID: 569213
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Interaction of Conspiracy Law and the Sentencing Guidelines

Text: 12 All of the defendants challenge the district judge's determination of the base offense level, claiming that they were improperly sentenced based upon the entire amount of heroin that was distributed during the Cole conspiracy. While the jury returned a guilty verdict against each defendant on the conspiracy count, the determination of the base offense level involves a separate inquiry that is made by the sentencing judge, for a general verdict does not establish with whom a defendant conspired or the quantity of drugs encompassed by the conspiracy. 13 Section 2D of the Guidelines governs the sentencing judge's determination of the base offense level for crimes involving drugs and drug conspiracies. Specifically, Guideline Section 2D1.4 mandates that the offense level shall be the same as if the object of the conspiracy    had been completed. Elaborating the proper interpretation of Section 2D1.4 is Application Note 1, which places an important limitation on the sentence that can be imposed on any given co-conspirator. The relevant language of Application Note 1 in force at the time of the sentencing provided that: 14 [i]f the defendant is convicted of conspiracy, the sentence should be imposed only on the basis of the defendant's conduct or the conduct of co-conspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy that was known to the defendant or was reasonably foreseeable. 15 Application Note 1, § 2D1.4 (emphasis supplied). 16 Guideline Section 1B1.3(a)(1) is also relevant to our inquiry because it defines more generally the conduct that is to be considered in determining the sentence range. Relevant conduct, for purposes of the section, includes: 17 all acts and omissions committed or aided and abetted by the defendant, or for which the defendant would be otherwise accountable, that occurred during the commission of the offense of conviction, in preparation for that offense, or in the course of attempting to avoid detection or responsibility for that offense, or that otherwise were in furtherance of that offense; 18 § 1B1.3(a)(1). The section is followed by commentary. Application Note 1 of the commentary restricts relevant conduct for a conspiracy to conduct in furtherance of the conspiracy that was known to or was reasonably foreseeable by the defendant. Application Note 1 to Section 1B1.3. 19 The November 1, 1989, amendments to the Guidelines consolidated all of the language discussing reasonably foreseeable relevant conduct in Section 1B1.3. Under the amendments, Section 2D1.4 now directs the sentencing judge to Section 1B1.3 for discussion of conduct that is reasonably foreseeable for sentencing purposes. However, the main text of Section 1B1.3(a)(1) did not change, and the modification is contained in Application Note 1 to Section 1B1.3, which explains the parameters of reasonably foreseeable conduct more clearly than the earlier commentary: 20 In the case of criminal activity undertaken in concert with others, whether or not charged as a conspiracy, the conduct for which the defendant would be otherwise accountable also includes conduct of others in furtherance of the execution of the jointly-undertaken criminal activity that was reasonably foreseeable by the defendant. Because a count may be broadly worded and include the conduct of many participants over a substantial period of time, the scope of the jointly-undertaken criminal activity and hence relevant conduct, is not necessarily the same for every participant. Where it is established that the conduct was neither within the scope of the defendant's agreement, nor was reasonably foreseeable in connection with the criminal activity the defendant agreed to jointly undertake, such conduct is not included in establishing the defendant's offense level under this guideline. 21 Application Note 1 to amended § 1B1.3. The amended commentary proceeds to multiple illustrations of conduct for which a defendant would be held accountable. Relevant to this case is Illustration e: 22 Defendants H and I engaged in an ongoing marihuana importation conspiracy in which Defendant J was hired only to help off-load a single shipment. Defendants H, I, and J are included in a single count charging conspiracy to import marihuana. For the purposes of determining the offense level under this guideline, Defendant J is accountable for the entire single shipment of marihuana he conspired to help import and any acts or omissions in furtherance of the importation that were reasonably foreseeable. He is not accountable for prior or subsequent shipments of marihuana imported by Defendant H or I if those acts were beyond the scope of, and not reasonably foreseeable in connection with, the criminal activity he agreed to jointly undertake with Defendants H and I (i.e., the importation of the single shipment of marihuana). 23 Illustration e to § 1B1.3. As the illustration makes clear, a defendant in a drug conspiracy will not be held accountable for prior or subsequent conduct that was not a reasonably foreseeable element of the criminal activity agreed to by the defendant, even if the conduct involved the distribution of the same controlled substance by other defendants. This example shows that the most relevant factor in determining the reasonable foreseeability of conduct engaged in by co-conspirators in an intricate and long-standing conspiracy is the scope of the defendant's agreement with the other conspirators. 24 Although the revised commentary clarifies the scope of relevant conduct for sentencing purposes, the language of the actual Guideline section did not change one iota as a result of the November 1, 1989, amendments. The commentary to Section 1B1.3 elaborates upon the meaning of identical language more extensively than the pre-amendments commentary. Even though the statute, not the commentary, has the force of law, the amended commentary informs (even if it does not direct) our analysis. As we have said previously, [t]he Sentencing Commission's application notes are contemporaneous explanations of the Guidelines by their authors, entitled to substantial weight. United States v. White, 888 F.2d 490, 497 (1989), citing United States v. Pinto, 875 F.2d 143, 144 (7th Cir.1989). Because the amended commentary is more specific than the pre-amendment commentary in elucidating reasonably foreseeable conduct, it is mentioned here as a prelude to a discussion of conspiracy cases decided by this Court and other courts. 25 In determining the base offense level, the district judge may be guided by conspiracy law in considering which conduct is relevant for sentencing purposes. United States v. LaFraugh, 893 F.2d 314, 317 (11th Cir.1990), discussed the applicability of conspiracy law to determinations under the Guidelines, holding that the standards embodied in [the Guidelines] roughly approximate those detailed by the Supreme Court in Pinkerton v. United States, 328 U.S. 640, 646-647, 66 S.Ct. 1180, 1183-1184, 90 L.Ed. 1489. Pinkerton held that a defendant is responsible for the acts of his co-conspirators if those acts 1) were reasonably foreseeable to the defendant and 2) were in furtherance of the conspiracy. As applied, Pinkerton permits a finding that a defendant    faces liability for the substantive crimes of the conspiracy, as well as criminal liability for joining the conspiracy. United States v. Townsend, 924 F.2d 1385, 1388-1389 (7th Cir.1991). 26 As the language in both Pinkerton and the Guidelines indicates, there are two limiting factors on the use of conduct in calculating the sentence of a conspiracy defendant. The conduct must be 1) in furtherance of the conspiracy and 2) reasonably foreseeable to the defendant. 27 It is tempting in this case to characterize certain of the defendants as engaging in smaller, stand-alone conspiracies rather than one large, overall conspiracy. For example, defendants Raji, Stover, Griffin, Edwards and Bennett--the supplier-wholesalers--could be considered competitors rather than co-conspirators. As such, each might be considered to engage in a mini-conspiracy when he sells heroin to Cole's network, separate and distinct from a larger conspiracy involving all drugs supplied by all suppliers. Under this approach, the sentences of these defendants would be limited by the in furtherance of the conspiracy Pinkerton factor. Only the drugs that each supplier-defendant individually supplied would be considered in furtherance of his individual conspiracy. 28 There are several problems, however, with splitting the larger conspiracy into smaller stand-alone conspiracies in this case. On a practical level, the jury and judge below convicted the defendants of one conspiracy comprising an entire distribution network, running from suppliers through packagers all the way down to street vendors. This was the theory of the Government's prosecution. Indeed, the defendants have not argued that their individual agreements were narrower, and we hesitate to advance this theory in the absence of such arguments. 29 On a more theoretical level, there is good reason to leave the single conspiracy intact when analyzing an intricate and long-standing drug distribution network. To function effectively, a complex drug network must necessarily include reliable suppliers and street vendors--who typically compete with each other--as well as executives and managers--who typically cooperate with each other. Where competing suppliers maintain a long-standing business relationship with the network, it makes no sense to exclude them from the web of expanded drug conspiracy liability. These long-standing suppliers become as much a part of the conspiracy as the core managers, and thus should be sentenced on the basis of the entire quantity of drugs distributed by the network. In sum, the more important consideration is not whether a particular defendant can be labeled a competitor of other defendants, but instead is whether the defendant demonstrated a substantial level of commitment to the conspiracy, either by engaging in a consistent series of smaller transactions throughout the life of the conspiracy, or by engaging in one substantial transaction (such as loaning a large amount of money to the network). 30 Leaving the conspiracy intact in our analysis does not mean that each defendant involved in the conspiracy here is responsible for the entire amount of drugs that flowed through the network over a three-year period. The reasonably foreseeable prong of the Pinkerton analysis, as repeated in the Guidelines, still remains. Indeed, reasonable foreseeability and conduct in furtherance of the conspiracy emanate from the same rationale. To say that certain conduct (e.g., selling X grams of heroin) is reasonably foreseeable to a defendant is also to say that it was in furtherance of the agreement for which he is responsible. This is true whether the inquiry takes place for the purpose of determining liability, or if it goes into the calculus for arriving at a sentence. Similarly, criminal actions that are not reasonably foreseeable to a particular defendant cannot be said to be in furtherance of the conspiracy to which the defendant agreed. 31 We are faced in this case with the conundrum of applying the concept of reasonable foreseeability to a drug conspiracy that spanned approximately three years and that included numerous supplier-wholesalers, middle-managers, and seller-retailers. In particular, the concept of foreseeability (a forward-looking concept) must be turned around 180 degrees and be applied to the conduct of co-conspirators occurring before the entry of a particular defendant into the conspiracy. 32 In the context of this case, it must be emphasized that reasonable foreseeability means more than subjective awareness on the part of individual defendants that Cole headed a long-standing and successful heroin distribution network. Given the notoriety of the Cole network, each defendant here can be ascribed with such awareness. Instead, conduct of co-conspirators--even past conduct--can be considered reasonably foreseeable to a particular defendant if that defendant has demonstrated a substantial degree of commitment to the conspiracy's objectives, either through his words or his conduct. Of particular importance in determining the level of commitment on the part of an individual defendant is the scope of the agreement between that defendant and his co-conspirators. 33 This Court has discussed reasonably foreseeable conduct in several cases. [A] defendant who pleads guilty to a conspiracy charge is held accountable, for purposes of determining his relevant conduct and the applicable guideline range, for all drug transactions that he was aware of or that he should have reasonably foreseen. United States v. Guerrero, 894 F.2d 261, 267 (1990). The foreseeability inquiry places an appropriate check on a sentencing judge, preventing him from penalizing a defendant who was connected to a conspiracy, but whose involvement did not embrace the entire scope of the conspiracy. As stated in United States v. Smith, 897 F.2d 909 (1990), not all crimes by co-conspirators are to be considered [in sentencing a particular defendant], but only conduct which the defendant could reasonably foresee in connection with the conspiracy. Id. at 911. While this Court has approved sentencing a defendant on the basis of the entire amount of drugs that flowed through the drug network, it has done so in cases where the drug transactions of other defendants were reasonably foreseeable to that defendant--for example, where defendant actually admitted that all of the enumerated transactions in a conspiracy were reasonably foreseeable. United States v. Savage, 891 F.2d 145, 151 (1989). 34 To be sure, other cases have held defendants liable for the entire quantity of drugs involved in a drug conspiracy. An examination of the facts in these cases reveals, however, that the defendants were substantially involved in the conspiracy and knew or reasonably should have known of the quantity of drugs handled by the conspiracy. In United States v. Williams, 897 F.2d 1034 (10th Cir.1990), certiorari denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 2064, 114 L.Ed.2d 469, the court upheld the base offense level computed by the trial court based on an examination whether the defendant, the member of an ongoing conspiracy, knew or should have known that at least such amount was involved. Id. at 1041. According to the trial court there, the defendant, by her own admission, knew of the total quantity of heroin involved in that conspiracy, so that the base offense level determination was appropriate. Id. The court rejected the defendant's contention in Williams that she should be held liable only for that amount of drugs she personally handled. On the contrary, where the defendant had episodic but significant participation in the conspiracy and took no effective steps to bring it to an end, she could be held responsible for the total quantity of drugs involved in the conspiracy. Id. 35 In United States v. Vinson, 886 F.2d 740 (4th Cir.1989), certiorari denied, 493 U.S. 1062, 110 S.Ct. 878, 107 L.Ed.2d 961 (1990) the court upheld the determination of a defendant's sentence on the basis of the entire amount of cocaine in the conspiracy. Where the defendant transported cocaine regularly as part of a cocaine distribution network and where the defendant was actively involved in buying increasingly larger amounts of cocaine up until the time of arrest, the court held that it was not clear error to sentence the defendant on the basis of the entire amount of drugs in the conspiracy. Id. at 742-743. However, the court acknowledged that a defendant would be entitled to resentencing if he had been responsible only for a small amount of drugs but was sentenced on the basis of the entire amount of drugs distributed during the life of the conspiracy. Id. at 742. 36 Another decision, United States v. Record, 873 F.2d 1363, 1368 (10th Cir.1989), articulates the same limiting principle, stating that because it is essential to determine the kind of agreement entered into by each defendant, a defendant who simply makes two drug purchases in one year cannot be held accountable for drug sales of a different magnitude that were conducted years later. Id., citing United States v. Borelli, 336 F.2d 376, 384-385 (2d Cir.1964), certiorari denied, 379 U.S. 960, 85 S.Ct. 647, 13 L.Ed.2d 555. 37 The decision in United States v. Farrell, 893 F.2d 690 (5th Cir.1990), suggests a broader rule. In Farrell, the court upheld an offense level based on 2,000 pounds of marijuana even though the defendant agreed to buy only 500 pounds of the same drug. Id. at 692. Justifying its decision to affirm the trial court's reliance on the higher amount, the court found the defendant to be a member of the conspiracy that anticipated the purchase and distribution of at least 2,000 pounds of marijuana. Id. Farrell differs from Guerrero and Williams, for the court held that the defendant could be sentenced on the basis of the entire amount of drugs involved in the conspiracy since he was found guilty of the crime of conspiracy. See also United States v. Holland, 884 F.2d 354, 358 (8th Cir.1989). 38 Farrell rests on the broad assumption that all of the drugs that are involved in a conspiracy can be deemed reasonably foreseeable to an individual conspirator for sentencing purposes. Guerrero, which is the law of our circuit, rejects that view, as do the Sentencing Guidelines. In order for the entire amount of drugs distributed in a conspiracy to be reasonably foreseeable to a given defendant for sentencing purposes, relevant conduct is limited to all drug transactions that [the defendant] was aware of or that he should have reasonably foreseen. Guerrero, 894 F.2d at 266. On this inquiry, the Government failed to sustain its burden as to a number of the defendants on appeal. 39 At the sentencing hearings, the district judge accepted the argument that because the conspiracy had distributed in excess of 10 kilograms of heroin, all of the defendants who were tried should be sentenced accordingly. As support for this approach, the judge cited three pre-Guidelines cases in which this Court imposed liability on a co-conspirator for acts of another co-conspirator if performed in furtherance of the agreed-upon conspiracy, even if acts may have been performed before the member joined the conspiracy. United States v. Castillo, 814 F.2d 351, 355 (1987); United States v. Spudic, 795 F.2d 1334, 1337 (1986); United States v. Lynch, 699 F.2d 839, 842 & n. 2 (1982). Although these cases undeniably establish as a matter of conspiracy law that a Johnny-come-lately may be liable for acts committed before he joined, they also reveal a limiting principle that restricts imposition of criminal liability for conspiracy to the agreed upon conspiracy, Castillo, 814 F.2d at 355; to the one conspiracy that was agreed upon, Spudic, 795 F.2d at 1337; and to all overt actions of other conspirators intended to advance the scheme, Lynch, 699 F.2d at 842. 40 The district court erred in not considering the scope of the agreement each defendant here had with his co-conspirators. The decisions in Castillo, Spudic, and Lynch do not excuse a trial judge from applying the analysis mandated by the Sentencing Guidelines: was the conduct of other co-conspirators, for which the defendant is being held accountable, reasonably foreseeable? The only sensible way to answer this question in this case is to look at the level of commitment each defendant demonstrated towards achieving the conspiracy's goals as evidenced by the scope of the agreement that the defendant entered into with his co-conspirators. 41 The Government argues (Br. 36-37) that because the Guidelines merely approximate the standard for conspiratorial liability set forth in Pinkerton, 328 U.S. at 640, 66 S.Ct. at 1180, the sentences imposed by the district judge were proper. Pinkerton held that the overt act of a partner in a conspiracy is attributable to all of the members of the conspiracy. Id. at 646-647, 66 S.Ct. at 1183-1184. Therefore, under conspiracy law, where there is one agreement, a defendant who agrees to conspire will be held liable for those acts of co-conspirators that were in furtherance of the conspiracy, even if they were committed before he joined. Castillo, 814 F.2d at 355; Spudic, 795 F.2d at 1337. 42 The Government's argument begs the question of what each defendant conspired to do. To the extent that the Guidelines may approximate conspiracy law, the law does not support conspiratorial liability for every individual who deals with someone connected to a large drug distribution network. United States v. Townsend, 924 F.2d 1385, 1390 (7th Cir.1991). Under conspiracy law, the scope of a conspiracy is determined by the scope of the agreement. Id. at 1392. Townsend dealt with sufficiency of the evidence challenges to a conspiracy conviction, and the Court addressed in detail the proper legal standard for determining the scope of a conspiracy. Townsend highlights the important distinction separating an agreement to conspire from any other association or affiliation with an organization: To join a conspiracy, then, is to join an agreement, rather than a group. It follows that to be a conspirator you must know of the agreement. Id. at 1390. Reviewing the state of the law, Townsend stated that [t]he creation of the Sentencing Guidelines did nothing to limit a conspirator's derivative exposure, because under the Guidelines conspirators must be sentenced on the basis of the total quantity of drugs the conspiracy can reasonably be estimated to have dealt in. Id. at 1389, citing United States v. Franklin, 902 F.2d 501, 504 (7th Cir.1990); United States v. White, 888 F.2d 490, 496-497 (7th Cir.1989). 43 Townsend 's reference to derivative liability under the Guidelines merely affirms that a conspirator who knows that by agreeing to conspire he is entering a large-scale conspiracy may be sentenced on the basis of the drugs that were part of the same course of conduct or agreement whether or not the defendant was charged or convicted of possessing or distributing these additional amounts. Franklin, 902 F.2d at 504, citing White, 888 F.2d at 496-497. Townsend proceeded to place a desirable, and needed, check on the ability of conspiracy law to embrace any and all defendants who bear some relation, no matter how attenuated, to the conspiracy. Townsend properly notes that the construction of a conspiratorial hierarchy featuring a multitude of defendants does not provide proof positive that every defendant on the organizational chart belongs there. 924 F.2d at 1392. Instead, Townsend requires a trial court to scrutinize the agreement that an individual defendant entered into to determine whether he actually agreed to become involved in a conspiracy to distribute a given quantity of drugs--here more than 10 kilograms of heroin. Id. 1 44 Townsend teaches that the Government must do more than allege that a particular defendant has entered some aspect of the conspiracy in order for a defendant to be held liable for the entire amount of heroin distributed during the course of the conspiracy. Id. at 1390. Townsend makes clear that conspiracy law contains an important limiting principle--namely, that conspiracy liability cannot exceed the scope of a defendant's agreement to further criminal activity. The Guidelines articulate the same limiting principle in terms of a requirement that those convicted of conspiracy may be sentenced only on the basis of acts committed in furtherance of the conspiracy that were reasonably foreseeable. The emphasis of conspiracy law on the scope of the agreement and the Guidelines on reasonable foreseeability have the same goal in mind. Both limiting principles prevent the conspiratorial net from being cast too wide. See id. at 1389. 45 Because the limiting principle underlying conspiracy law and the Guidelines is essentially one and the same, the Court's analysis in Townsend is helpful in construing the reasonably foreseeable requirement of the Guidelines. In order to sentence a defendant based on the entire quantity of drugs distributed in a conspiracy, when the defendant has joined the conspiracy in its late stages, it must be shown that those earlier transactions were reasonably foreseeable to him. The Government must show that the defendant agreed to a conspiracy whose scope included so large a distribution of heroin. The judge may sentence a late entrant on the basis of all the drugs distributed only if the earlier distributions occurred as part of the conspiracy to which the defendant agreed. A defendant who enters the conspiracy in its final stages, who was not linked to the earlier transactions or with the co-conspirators in any substantial way, and who bought or sold an amount of drugs that was minuscule in comparison to the 10 kilograms or more of heroin distributed may not be held responsible for all of the heroin distributed over the three-year period. Furthermore, he may not be sentenced according to all of the heroin distributed after he agreed to join the conspiracy if in agreeing to conspire, he reasonably foresaw a lesser amount. Applying these limiting principles to several of the defendants requires a remand of their cases for resentencing so that the base offense level may be recalculated. 46