Opinion ID: 3002292
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Amount of Drugs Attributable to Slack

Text: Slack argues that the district court erred in determining the amount of cocaine base attributable to him as relevant conduct under U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3. He submits that the court erred in relying on drug dealing that was separate from the conspiracy alleged in Count 1. He also claims the court relied on unreliable hearsay statements contained in the Presentence Report (PSR) in determining the drug quantity. As with other factual findings at sentencing, we review a district court’s findings as to relevant conduct and drug quantity for clear error. United States v. Artley, 489 F.3d 813, 821 (7th Cir. 2007). Thus, we will affirm the district court “unless, after considering all of the evidence, we are left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” Id. (quotation omitted). The government must prove the amount of drugs attributable to a defendant by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. And a defendant has a due process right to be sentenced on the basis of accurate information. Id. However, “[e]videntiary standards are relaxed at sentencing; a sentencing court may consider information that has ‘sufficient indicia of reliability to support its probable accuracy.’” United States v. Abdulahi, 523 F.3d 757, 761 (7th Cir. 2008) (quoting U.S.S.G. § 6A1.3(a)); see also United States v. Schroeder, No. 07-3773, 2008 WL 2971805, at  (7th Cir. Aug. 5, 2008) (same in the context of relevant conduct). A district court may rely on facts asserted in the PSR if the PSR is based on sufficiently reliable information. Schroeder, 2008 WL 2971805, at ; Artley, 489 F.3d at 821. The defendant bears the burden of proving that the PSR is inaccurate 32 Nos. 07-2649 & 07-2930 or unreliable. Id. If he offers no evidence to question the PSR’s accuracy, the court may rely on the PSR. Id. Slack first complains that the district court attributed to him 8.7 grams of crack sold by Donald Slack although his alleged drug dealing with Donald was separate and distinct from the charged conspiracy. “Relevant conduct can be used to enhance a defendant’s sentence if it is part of the same course of action or common scheme or plan that gave rise to the defendant’s conviction.” United States v. McGowan, 478 F.3d 800, 802 (7th Cir. 2007). We already have considered and rejected Slack’s claim that his dealings with Donald were not part of the conspiracy for which he was convicted. Slack’s mere assertion that his drug dealing with Donald was separate and distinct from the proven conspiracy is insufficient without any supporting evidence to call into question the PSR’s accuracy.5 The district court did not err in finding that the 8.7 grams of cocaine base/crack sold to a confidential source was attributable to Rudy Slack. Slack also claims that Ontis’s statement in an interview with the Alton Police Department that Alan Taylor accompanied him on at least ten occasions during the prior few months to purchase crack cocaine from Slack (PSR ¶ 18) contradicted Taylor’s trial testimony. At trial, Taylor testified that he never purchased crack cocaine from Slack. We fail to see how Ontis’s statement contradicts testimony 5 Slack incorrectly states, citing PSR ¶¶ 21, 22, that the PSR attributed to him 8.7 grams of crack cocaine sold by Donald. Paragraph 21 of the PSR actually indicates that the confidential source purchased crack cocaine from Rudy not Donald. Nos. 07-2649 & 07-2930 33 that Taylor—not Ontis—never purchased crack from Slack. Ontis did not state that Taylor purchased crack from Slack. The district court found the report of Ontis’s statement consistent with Taylor’s testimony—which the court found credible based on Taylor’s trial testimony and plea before the court—and, thus, found the report to have every indicia of reliability. Slack has not pointed to any evidence to question the accuracy of ¶ 18 of the PSR, or, for that matter, ¶¶ 25 and 27 as well, which he challenges in a rather general way only. In addition, Slack argues that Spruill’s allegations (PSR ¶ 23) that he obtained 13 grams of crack cocaine from Slack in 2004 and purchased crack cocaine from him on November 1, 2004, were unreliable. At trial Spruill testified about one purchase of crack cocaine from Rudy Slack on November 1, 2004, reflected in Count 7. Spruill did not testify at trial about any other crack cocaine deals with Slack in 2004, but Spruill’s proffer did refer to other crack cocaine sales in 2004. Spruill’s proffer was not inconsistent with his trial testimony. 6 Regarding Spruill’s statement that he purchased crack cocaine from Slack on November 1, Spruill testified that Donald was present at the time of the purchase. Donald, however, testified that he was not speaking to Rudy from September 2004 to January 2005 and had no drug dealings with Spruill. Whether to believe Spruill’s testimony or Donald’s testimony was a credibility determi- 6 Spruill also testified that he purchased crack cocaine from Slack on two occasions in early 2005 and attempted to do so on a third, but on that occasion Slack had no crack, so Spruill agreed to buy marijuana from him instead. 34 Nos. 07-2649 & 07-2930 nation for the district judge at sentencing. We see no reason to upset the judge’s decision to believe Spruill. Further- more, the district court found Spruill’s proffer to be reliable based on its finding that the proffer was consistent with Spruill’s trial testimony, his plea before the court and his Stipulation of Facts that he swore to in his plea. We accordingly find that the district court did not err in determining the amount of cocaine base attributable to Slack as relevant conduct for sentencing.