Opinion ID: 2658283
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Drug Quantities and Booker

Text: It is well established that “[o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt” because it is, by definition, an element of the offense.53 Likewise, as the Supreme Court held in Alleyne v. United States,54 any fact that increases the mandatory minimum is an element and must be submitted to the jury. After Alleyne and its predecessor Blakely,55 then, both a defendant’s mandatory minimum and maximum sentence must be determined according to the drug quantity found by a jury. “For a defendant involved in a drug trafficking 53 Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 465, 490 (2000); see also Alleyne v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2151, 2158 (2013). 54 133 S. Ct. 1251, 1258 (2013). 55 Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 303 (2004). 29 Case: 12-40515 Document: 00512575405 Page: 30 Date Filed: 03/27/2014 No. 12-40515 conspiracy, the quantity includes both the drugs with which the defendant was directly involved and the drugs that can be attributed to him through the conspiracy.”56 “‘[O]nce the jury has determined that the conspiracy involved a type and quantity of drugs sufficient to justify a sentence above the default statutory maximum and has found a particular defendant guilty of participation in the conspiracy, the judge lawfully may determine the drug quantity attributable to that defendant and sentence him accordingly.’”57