Opinion ID: 681347
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Applicability of the Mandatory Life Sentence Provision

Text: 14 Cooper argues, without citation to any authority, that the district court erred when it took the crack cocaine equivalencies used in calculating his base offense level under the Sentencing Guidelines and applied the mandatory life sentence provision of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(1)(A)(iii). According to Cooper, he should have been sentenced under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(1)(B)(ii)(II), 2 which applies to offenses involving over 500 grams of cocaine powder, because the indictment, the jury instruction, and the count of conviction all charged him with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and not crack. 15 In determining the amount of drugs attributable to a defendant for purposes of sentencing, the district court is not controlled by the type or quantity of drugs specified in either the indictment or count of conviction. U.S.S.G. Sec. 2D1.1, comment. (n. 12); United States v. Villarreal, 977 F.2d 1077, 1080 (7th Cir.1992), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 1350, 122 L.Ed.2d 731 (1993); United States v. Levy, 955 F.2d 1098, 1106 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 102, 121 L.Ed.2d 62 (1992). Rather, the court is required to consider types and quantities of drugs not specified in the indictment or count of conviction so long as they are part of the same course of conduct or common scheme or plan. U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.3(a)(2); Villarreal, 977 F.2d at 1080. The district court may consider evidence from the trial in determining types and quantities of drugs. Levy, 955 F.2d at 1106. The district court's determination that the uncharged drugs are part of the same conspiracy, whether it be pursuant to the enhancement provisions of Sec. 841(b) or the Sentencing Guidelines, 3 is a finding of fact which will be overturned only if it is clearly erroneous. United States v. Granados, 962 F.2d 767, 770 (8th Cir.1992); United States v. Lokey, 945 F.2d 825, 839 (5th Cir.1991) (collecting cases); see United States v. Herrera, 948 F.2d 1046, 1048 (7th Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1596, 118 L.Ed.2d 311 (1992) (district court's calculation of cocaine amount attributed to defendant's relevant offense conduct is reviewed for clear error); United States v. Guyton, 36 F.3d 655, 663 (7th Cir.1994) (same). Cooper's failure to object to this factual finding means that the plain error rule applies. Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b). 16 No error occurred here, plain or otherwise. The 50 grams of crack cocaine for which Cooper was sentenced was, without a doubt, part of the same conspiracy as that charged in the count of conviction. The evidence produced at trial established that virtually all of Cooper's business deals involved crack cocaine. See United States v. Payne, 940 F.2d 286, 293 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 616, 116 L.Ed.2d 638 (1991) (concluding that sentences were not unconstitutional because indictments failed to specify that crack cocaine would be included in calculating base offense levels; crack was part of the same cocaine conspiracy charged in the counts of conviction); United States v. McCaskey, 9 F.3d 368, 377 (5th Cir.1993) (per curiam), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 1565, 128 L.Ed.2d 211 (1994) (holding that due process was not violated by imposition of sentences based on true nature of defendants' conduct as involving cocaine base rather than cocaine hydrochloride as charged in indictment; defendants knew prior to sentencing that government's test revealed that cocaine base was involved, and plea agreement made no representation that defendants would be sentenced only according to the allegations in the indictment). Once the district court made its finding regarding the total amount of crack cocaine involved in the offense, it had no choice but to impose the mandatory life sentence given Cooper's prior felony convictions. 4 Although we have previously noted the self-evident unfairness of sentencing a defendant based on uncharged criminal conduct, we have also observed that the Supreme Court has consistently upheld the practice. See United States v. Beler, 20 F.3d 1428, 1431 n. 1 (7th Cir.1994) (quoting United States v. Corbin, 998 F.2d 1377, 1384 (7th Cir.1993), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 1124, 127 L.Ed.2d 432 (1994)); United States v. Ebbole, 917 F.2d 1495, 1496 (7th Cir.1990); United States v. Johnson, 658 F.2d 1176, 1179 (7th Cir.1981). 17 We add that to the extent Cooper argues there was a fatal variance between the allegation in the indictment, which charged Cooper with conspiring to distribute cocaine, and the evidence at trial, which showed that Cooper dealt in crack cocaine, Cooper is not entitled to relief. The variance, if any, between cocaine and cocaine base was plainly harmless in the absence of evidence that it affected Cooper's substantial rights. United States v. Pierce, 893 F.2d 669, 676 (5th Cir.1990); United States v. Wiley, 29 F.3d 345, 352 (8th Cir.1994).