Opinion ID: 622034
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Co-conspirator Richards's Testimony About the Cocaine Load

Text: The government also called co-conspirator Aaron Lamar Richards, who was currently serving a 132-month sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Richards used to deal cocaine with Eddie and Kelvin Snead. In 2007, Richards talked with the Sneads about an imminent load of cocaine that was going to be delivered from Texas. Richards and the Sneads were discussing the cocaine delivery when Sanders arrived. During the conversation, Sanders told Kelvin Snead that Sanders planned to change his route during this trip because he encountered too many cops on the route he took during his last trip. Eddie Snead told Richards that Sanders was preparing to drive the tractor-trailer to Texas to pick up cocaine, and Richards agreed to buy 20 kilograms of cocaine from the load at $26,000.00 per kilogram. Richards never received the cocaine because Sanders was caught in Georgia and the cocaine was seized. About a year later, Richards ran into Sanders at a restaurant in North Carolina, and Sanders stated that he had beat the case down in Atlanta and was released. Richards suspected that Sanders's release meant that he was likely to be indicted by the federal government, but Richards did not reveal this suspicion. On cross-examination, Richards conceded that he knew that Sanders was going to face federal charges because Richards was recently arrested on federal drug charges and was released after agreeing to cooperate and collect evidence on his co-conspirators.