Opinion ID: 540010
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Dennis Rivera.

Text: 38 D. Rivera was convicted on count one, the narcotics conspiracy count, count thirteen for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute it, and count seventeen for a section 924(c)(1) firearm violation. Although he sought acquittal in a posttrial motion pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 29(c) and renews his request for acquittal here, his appellate arguments are directed solely to the convictions on counts thirteen and seventeen. Specifically, he contends that there was an inadequate nexus between him and items of contraband, a quantity of cocaine and a hand gun, seized by the government on June 24, 1987 at 527 East 147th Street in the Bronx. 39 We disagree. The nexus was amply established. At trial, the government showed through a number of taped conversations that D. Rivera conducted a narcotics business from that address, which was the situs of a four-story apartment building. According to the testimony of NYDETF agents, the raid on that date on apartment no. 7 in that building yielded a pistol holster; car rental receipts in the names of Flores and Arcelay; two social security cards bearing D. Rivera's printed name and signature; and a scrap of paper with Flores' telephone number. 40 A search of apartment no. 6, one floor beneath apartment no. 7, was conducted simultaneously. Three individuals were found there, including D. Rivera. The agents also found boxes of glassine envelopes; beepers; a business card bearing Nelson Flores' beeper number and another telephone number next to the word Nlson [sic] on the reverse side of the card; and approximately $52,160 worth of jewelry. In the kitchen, agents noticed that a door leading to a dumbwaiter shaft was ajar. There was a ladder inside the shaft that began at apartment no. 6 and descended into the shaft. There was also a string hanging down into the shaft from the doorway in the kitchen of apartment no. 6. On a ledge inside the shaft, one floor below apartment no. 6, an investigating agent found 75.5 grams of 92% pure cocaine and a triple-beam O-haus scale. He also found $5,942 in cash and a loaded .38 caliber revolver attached to the string at the bottom of the shaft. According to the agents, all of the shaft doors that led to the other apartments were either painted shut or otherwise sealed, so that there was access to the shaft only from apartment no. 6. 41 Considering the evidence provided by the taped conversations that D. Rivera conducted a narcotics operation at this location; the other items seized during the search; and D. Rivera's apprehension in apartment no. 6 at the time of the search, the evidence showed far more than [D. Rivera's] mere proximity to the [contraband] and provided an ample basis for a reasonable juror to find that [he] had constructive possession of the [contraband]. United States v. Tribunella, 749 F.2d 104, 112 (2d Cir.1984).  'It is not necessary that such evidence remove every reasonable hypothesis except that of guilt.'  Id. (quoting United States v. Craven, 478 F.2d 1329, 1333 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 866, 94 S.Ct. 54, 38 L.Ed.2d 85 (1973)). We find no basis to disturb D. Rivera's conviction on counts thirteen and seventeen. 42