Opinion ID: 710261
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Edith Wacker

Text: 121 At Edith Wacker's sentencing hearing, the district court adopted the recommendation in the Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) that the relevant amount for the offense charged in Count 1 of the Indictment was 2,000 pounds (or 907.2 kilograms). The PSR based this quantity on statements made by Edith Wacker to the KBI that she and her coconspirators had planned to harvest 2,000 pounds of marijuana for distribution but were thwarted by police prior to reaching that goal. Edith Wacker contends that the district court's adoption of the PSR recommendation was clearly erroneous. First, she argues that because the statement made to the KBI was unreliable and uncorroborated, it did not bear sufficient indicia of reliability. Second, she contends that the evidence presented at her coconspirators' trial was insufficient to support a finding that the conspiracy involved 2,000 pounds of marijuana. 122 We agree with the district court's calculation of the drug quantities attributable to Edith Wacker. First, we find no error in the court's reliance upon Edith's own estimate of the 2,000 pound goal of the conspiracy. A district court may base its estimate of drug quantity upon a defendant's own statements and admissions. See, e.g., United States v. Washington, 11 F.3d 1510, 1516-17 (10th Cir.1993), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 1404, 128 L.Ed.2d 76 (1994); United States v. Cox, 985 F.2d 427, 431 (8th Cir.1993); United States v. Colon, 961 F.2d 41, 43 (2d Cir.1992). Moreover, because the evidence showed that Edith Wacker was the person responsible for keeping the operation's records, her statements as to drug quantity are particularly reliable in forecasting the total amount of the harvest. 123 Second, even without Edith Wacker's statement, we believe the evidence contained in the record more than supports the district court's 2,000 pound estimate. Persuasive evidence presented at the codefendants' trial showed that the drug operation was producing extremely large quantities of marijuana. Edith Wacker's record notebook, the size of the Wacker farm, the number of marijuana plants seized from the farm, the number of coconspirators involved, and, most importantly, the large quantities of processed marijuana seized 20 all support the district court's estimate. In light of this substantial evidence, we cannot say the district court's findings were clearly erroneous. 124