Opinion ID: 765997
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background Facts Relevant to All Defendants

Text: 11 Sydnor, Gibbs, and Brown are three of sixteen co-defendants who were charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C.§ 846. The indictment charged that the conspiracy ran from May 1992 until April 1995; Count 1 of the indictment identified Darryl Coleman and Gibbs as the leaders of the conspiracy and listed Sydnor and Brown (among others) as working for the conspiracy by distributing cocaine and collecting drug proceeds. 1 Count 1 also averred that the members used coded and cryptic language when discussing the cocaine business on the phone, and that some members of the conspiracy, including Gibbs and Brown, used and attempted to use acts of violence to further the conspiracy. 12 At trial, the government established that Coleman and Gibbs ran a drug organization that obtained cocaine from various suppliers and resold the cocaine in Philadelphia in both powder and crack form. Coleman and Gibbs processed the cocaine into crack at different houses in Philadelphia. After Coleman was arrested on state charges in April 1994 and subsequently imprisoned, Gibbs assumed primary responsibility for the organization, which meant that he supervised and managed the business, and recruited individuals to distribute cocaine and to collect drug proceeds from that distribution. 13 In addition to oral testimony by former members of the alleged enterprise, the government introduced a large number of tape-recorded conversations between various co-defendants, the recording of which was authorized by a district Judge. Five tapes contain conversations between Gibbs and Sydnor. Four tapes, recorded over a three-week period, contain Discussions between Gibbs and Brown. At least thirteen tapes contain conversations between Gibbs and Coleman. The government also introduced conversations in which other defendants discussed Brown's and Sydnor's roles in the conspiracy. However, much of the language on the tapes was in code and is virtually incomprehensible to the untrained ear. The government therefore called FBI Agent Jesse Coleman to interpret the coded language. Agent Coleman has been a narcotics investigator for eighteen years, and the District Court qualified him as an expert in the analysis and interpretation of drug conversations. None of the defendants challenged Agent Coleman's qualifications as an expert in analyzing and interpreting the intercepted 771conversations. The jury convicted each of the three defendants of the conspiracy charge. We have jurisdiction to review their appeals pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.