Opinion ID: 3001171
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Alexander’s Appeal

Text: Alexander only appeals his conviction for being a member of the drug-distribution conspiracy. He has never denied his involvement in the August 13, 2002 sale of crack to Bethel. Nor does Alexander deny that Bailey and Williams were involved in a conspiracy, saying that “overwhelming evidence” supports their convictions. But he does deny that sufficient evidence proves that he intended to join a conspiracy with Williams and Bailey to distribute drugs. We disagree. Alexander may not have been the laboring oar in the conspiracy, but he was certainly rowing. The evidence established that Alexander would direct willing buyers to Bailey or Williams. Alexander thus served as an intermediary in the conspiracy, bridging the divide between a willing buyer and Williams or Bailey. See United States v. Sachsenmaier, 491 F.3d 680, 684 (7th Cir. 2007); United States v. Rock, 370 F.3d 712, 715 (7th Cir. 2004) (“Case law is clear that when defendants are on the same side of a sale of drugs to a third party, there is sufficient evidence of a conspiracy.”). The most obvious instance of Alexander’s role was the August 13, 2002 sale. Bethel testified that he had called 20 Nos. 07-1182, 07-1190 & 07-1191 Alexander around noon and asked if he could purchase an ounce of crack. A few hours later, Bethel called Alexander and asked how long it was going to take him to “grab that zip for me.” Alexander responded that all he had to do was “make a phone call” and that he would “have them bring it over here, and I’ll just come to the Taft with them.” At around 5:00 P.M. that night, Alexander and Williams stopped by where Bethel was living and delivered the ounce. Although Bethel had purchased crack from Alexander three or four times in the past, he had never bought from Williams before. After the initial transaction, Alexander gave Williams’ number to Bethel for him to call directly. Alexander also helped set up the August 29, 2002 transaction, serving as a bridge between Bailey and Bethel when the former was slow in making delivery. Throughout the day, Alexander was in contact with Bailey and Williams on their cell phones. Although the jury acquitted Alexander of a distribution charge for that day, his behavior is still relevant to whether he conspired to do so. Billops, 43 F.3d at 286. This evidence clearly establishes Alexander’s involvement as of August 2002, but his involvement stretches back much further. Alexander had worked with Bailey to sell drugs for years. Jason Parker testified that Alexander would purchase “ounces, half ounces, . . . two ounces of crack from” him beginning in 1994. He would deliver the drugs to Alexander and Bailey together at the Taft Homes “when their supply didn’t have the drugs they needed.” John T. Williams testified that Williams had Alexander and Bailey working for him out of Williams’ house on Madison Street. Until he was sent to prison in 1997, John T. Williams would deliver ounces of crack to the house where Alexander was working for Williams, “dealing drugs and stuff like that.” Finally, Mario Thompson testified that he had also sold smaller amounts of crack to Alexander during the months leading up to his Nos. 07-1182, 07-1190 & 07-1191 21 arrest in 2002, the same period in which he was supplying Williams. In short, the jury was entitled to believe that Alexander had formed an agreement with Williams and Bailey to sell drugs, based on the controlled buys to Bethel and the testimony establishing Alexander’s involvement with Williams and Bailey in the Peoria crack market. The testimony certainly supported this conclusion. We will not disturb it on appeal.