Opinion ID: 499510
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Count 1--Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine

Text: 17 Defendant objects to his conspiracy conviction on the ground that the Government has not produced sufficient evidence to show that he was involved in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Defendant maintains that the evidence merely reveals that he was a buyer in several unrelated transactions. We have held that the proof of the existence of a buyer-seller relationship, without more, is inadequate to tie the buyer to a larger conspiracy.... United States v. Watson, 594 F.2d 1330, 1337 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 840, 100 S.Ct. 78, 62 L.Ed.2d 51 (1979). In order for the Government to establish a case of conspiracy against the defendant, it must sufficiently prove that the defendant had a common purpose with his coconspirators to possess and distribute cocaine. United States v. Kendall, 766 F.2d 1426, 1431 (10th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1081, 106 S.Ct. 848, 88 L.Ed.2d 889 (1986); United States v. Dickey, 736 F.2d 571, 581-82 (10th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1188, 105 S.Ct. 957, 83 L.Ed.2d 964 (1985). 18 As evidence of a conspiracy, the Government points to (1) the defendant's conversation with Ms. Patillar in which he disclosed that his former sources in Tulsa were unavailable but that he had a source in Oklahoma City, and (2) the couple's subsequent purchase of cocaine from Ms. Royal. The Government also recites two other instances in which defendant purchased cocaine from other sources and shared it with Ms. Patillar and others. This evidence does not reveal a common goal of the defendant with Ms. Patillar or the various sellers to possess and distribute cocaine. There is no indication that defendant was making a profit or distributing cocaine when he merely shared his purchases with his friends present at the time of sale. 19 The Government argues that, although a buyer-seller relationship may be insufficient to reveal a common goal and purpose to distribute cocaine, an inference may be drawn as to defendant's awareness of the scope of the conspiracy from the evidence of the volume and nature of the operations. Watson, 594 F.2d at 1340. Even considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, there is no evidence of any conspiracy. 20 To make a finding of a single conspiracy, the jury must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the alleged coconspirators possessed a common, illicit goal. To satisfy this common objective test ... the essential element of interdependence must be met--each alleged coconspirator must depend on the successful operation of each link in the chain to achieve the common goal. [The important question in a drug transaction is whether the separate transactions] constituted essential and integral steps toward the realization of a common, illicit goal.Dickey, 736 F.2d at 582 (citations omitted). The Government here has failed to show any common goal or larger scheme beyond each single transaction in which defendant possessed cocaine and distributed it to those who happened to be at the sale. Nor does the Government contend that defendant knew of a broad conspiracy or that the relatively small amounts of cocaine he purchased should have alerted him to a conspiracy. See Watson, 594 F.2d at 1340. In Dickey, the conspiracy was to possess and distribute marijuana and cocaine for profit. The court noted the scheme for distributing drugs for profit undeniably depended on the success of each transaction. The same is not true here. The Government has not shown that if defendant had failed to possess and distribute drugs on any one of the named occasions, the failure would have had any effect on the success of the other transactions. 21 Although defendant must satisfy a high standard of review--sufficiency of the evidence--the Government has not shown sufficient evidence or satisfactorily explained its theory of a larger conspiracy. We conclude that the conviction of conspiracy was improper. Therefore, the conviction on count one is reversed. 22