Opinion ID: 160122
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction & background

Text: 1 In March of 1999, Arturo Fria Vasquez del Mercado (Fria) was indicted on one count of distribution of methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2, and one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846. At the completion of the government's case-in-chief, the district court granted Fria's motion to dismiss the possession with intent charge. The jury, however, convicted Fria on the two remaining counts. The district court subsequently sentenced Fria to two concurrent terms of 120 months' imprisonment. 2 Fria's appeal of his conviction focuses on the testimony of two indicted co-conspirators, Jo L. Taylor and Shawna Chincoya, who had entered into plea agreements under which they agreed to cooperate with the government in exchange for recommendations of more lenient sentencing. He first argues the district court's decision to allow testimony obtained by the government through offers of lenient treatment violated his Fifth Amendment due process rights. Fria next contends the district court did not properly instruct the jury about the unreliability of this testimony. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court concludes that the admission of the challenged testimony did not offend due process and the district court adequately instructed the jury. We thus affirm Fria's conviction.