Court Opinion

ID: 2964700
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-21 21:29:52.357783+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:42:59.946033
License: Public Domain

USCA1 Opinion

	

                                [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

                                 ____________________

        No. 95-1856

                              UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                                      Appellee,

                                          v.

                                JULIO FIGUEROA-ROMERO,

                                      Appellant.

                                _____________________

        No. 96-1254

                              UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                                      Appellee,

                                          v.

                                  ALFREDO CESPEDES,

                                      Appellant.

                                 ____________________

        No. 96-1255

                              UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                                      Appellee,

                                          v.

                               JOSE A. RIVERO-CABANAS,

                                      Appellant.

                                 ____________________

                                 ____________________

                    APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                           FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

                  [Hon. Juan M. Perez-Gimenez, U.S. District Judge]
                                               ___________________

                                 ____________________

                                        Before

                                 Selya, Circuit Judge,
                                        _____________

                            Aldrich, Senior Circuit Judge,
                                     ____________________

                              and Lynch, Circuit Judge.
                                         _____________

                                 ____________________

            Julio Figueroa-Romero on brief pro se.
            _____________________
            Antonio Bauza  Torres, by appointment of  the Court,  on brief for
            _____________________
        appellant Alfredo Cespedes.
            Jose A. Rivero-Cabanas on brief pro se.
            ______________________
            Philip  Urofsky,  Attorney,  Narcotic  &  Dangerous  Drug Section,
            _______________
        Department  of  Justice, John  C.  Keeney,  Acting Assistant  Attorney
                                 ________________
        General,  Theresa M.B.  Van Vliet,  Chief, and  Guillermo  Gil, United
                  _______________________               ______________
        States Attorney, on brief for appellee.

                                 ____________________

                                     May 21, 1997
                                 ____________________

                      Per Curiam.  Alfredo Cespedes, Jose Antonio Rivero-
                      __________

            Cabanas and Julio Figueroa-Romero (collectively "defendants")

            pleaded  guilty to  drug  trafficking and  firearm counts  in

            Puerto Rico Federal District Court.  Each appeals his firearm

            conviction or  sentence under 18 U.S.C.   924(c)(1), pursuant

            to  the Supreme  Court's  more recent  opinion  in Bailey  v.
                                                               ______

            United States, ___ U.S. ___, 116 S. Ct. 501 (1995).  Cespedes
            _____________

            also appeals the court's  calculation of his criminal history

            category.  We affirm.

                                    I.  Background
                                        __________

                      The  indictments and subsequent pleas were based on

            the following facts.   Beginning in 1993,  the defendants and

            several  others   entered  into   a  conspiracy   to  smuggle

            controlled substances  into Puerto  Rico.  They  made several

            attempts to import  illegal substances; some succeeded,  some

            did  not.  Pre-sentence reports  indicate that Rivero was the

            overall organizer  and manager  of the conspiracy.   Cespedes

            managed  distribution  in Miami  while  Figueroa managed  the

            operations based in Puerto Rico.

                      The defendants'  guilty pleas relate to   incidents

            that occurred in November  of 1993.  The first  incident took

            place in  mid-November.  Cespedes left Miami  for Puerto Rico

            in  order to assist Rivero in taking delivery of 3,000 pounds

            of marijuana.  On the night of the planned delivery, Figueroa

            distributed guns to the other conspirators.  The group waited

                                         -3-

            at the  mouth of the  Humacoa river  for two  nights but  the

            delivery  failed   to   materialize.     They   tried   again

            approximately one week later;   however, once again the drugs

            eluded their grasp.

                      Rivero  next  made  arrangements  with  a Colombian

            supplier  to deliver cocaine by  air drop.   The group, again

            armed, succeeded in retrieving  approximately twenty bales of

            cocaine  from the ocean  before they were  intercepted by law

            enforcement officials.

                      In April 1994, the  defendants were indicted on ten

            drug  trafficking and firearm  counts.  One  year later, each

            defendant  pleaded  guilty  to  one count  of  conspiracy  to

            possess  with   intent  to  distribute  cocaine,   21  U.S.C.

               841(a)(1), 846, and  one count of aiding  and abetting the

            use  and carrying of firearms during the commission of a drug

            trafficking crime, 18 U.S.C.   924(c)(1).

                                   II.  Discussion
                                        __________

                      18 U.S.C.   924(c)(1) imposes a mandatory five-year

            prison term on any  person who "during and in relation to any

            crime of  violence or  drug trafficking crime  . . . uses  or

            carries a firearm."  After  the defendants were sentenced but

            prior to this appeal,  the Supreme Court held in  Bailey that
                                                              ______

            the  word  "use" was  to be  given  its "ordinary  or natural

            meaning."  116 S. Ct.  at 506.  Accordingly, to  be convicted

            of  "use" under the statute,  a defendant must have "actively

                                         -4-

            employed the firearm during and in  relation to the predicate

            crime."   Id. at 509.   The government concedes  that none of
                      ___

            the defendants' actions rise to this level but maintains that

            the   record  contains   sufficient  facts  to   support  the

            convictions under the "carry" prong.

                      We have said that  the Bailey Court recognized that
                                             ______

            the "carry" prong  of   924(c) would take on added importance

            in  light of the new limitations on  "use."  United States v.
                                                         _____________

            Ramirez-Ferrer, 82 F.3d 1149,  1152 (1st Cir.), cert. denied,
            ______________                                  ____________

            117  S.  Ct.  405 (1996).    Recently,  in  United States  v.
                                                        _____________

            Cleveland,  106  F.3d 1056  (1st  Cir.  1997), we  recognized
            _________

            "carry"  as applying both to transport  in a vehicle and on a

            defendant's person.   Id. at 1067.  We declined to limit this
                                  ___

            reading by  adopting a requirement of  accessibility, finding

            instead that "the distinguishing characteristic of "carry" is

            not the  instant availability  of the  item carried, but  the

            fact that the item  is being moved from one place  to another

            by  the carrier. . . .  Id. at 1068.  This movement, however,
                                    ___

            must  have  some nexus  to the  predicate offense.   Ramirez-
                                                                 ________

            Ferrer, 82 F.3d at  1152.  Because the firearms  charges were
            ______

            for aiding and  abetting, the convictions will  stand "if one

            defendant  is  found to  have to  have  carried a  firearm in

            violation of    924(c)(1) and  the others  to have  aided and

            abetted."  Id.  We examine each defendant's case in turn.
                       ___

                                         -5-

                      A. Figueroa
                         ________

                      Figueroa pleaded guilty to aiding and  abetting the

            use or  carrying of  firearms in  connection with  the failed

            marijuana delivery and  the cocaine air  drop.  He  maintains

            that  he  himself  did not  use  or  carry  any firearms  and

            objected to  the section  of his Pre-Sentence  Report ("PSR")

            stating that he possessed and distributed firearms to the co-

            conspirators.   When  Figueroa voiced  this objection  at his

            sentencing, the court ordered the government to make an offer

            of  proof  in  support   of  its  allegations  that  Figueroa

            "facilitated"  and   "distributed"   firearms  to   the   co-

            conspirators.   The government  informed the court  that five

            co-conspirators  were ready  to  testify  that they  received

            weapons  from Figueroa  during  the  unsuccessful attempt  to

            import  marijuana  and during  the  cocaine  drop.   Figueroa

            responded  that  he  would  have  impeached these  witnesses'

            testimony by his own testimony and that of Rivera.  The court

            found  by  a  preponderance  of the  evidence  that  Figueroa

            facilitated   and  distributed   the  weapons   to   the  co-

            conspirators on the two relevant occasions.

                      This finding is enough  to support  carrying within

            the  meaning of   924(c)(1) and under Cleveland.  In order to
                                                  _________

            bring   and  distribute  firearms   to  his  co-conspirators,

            Figueroa would have had to transport them either in a vehicle

            or   on  his  person.    Either  is  enough  to  fulfill  the

                                         -6-

            requirements  of carrying  as in  this context,  the required

            nexus to the predicate offense is unquestionably present.

                      Figueroa,   however,  did   not  plead   guilty  to

            "carrying",  but to  aiding and abetting  carrying, requiring

            that  at least  one other  defendant carry  a firearm.   This

            requirement,  however,  is  easily   met.    In  his  written

            objections  to the  PSR,  Figueroa acknowledged  that he  had

            "pleaded  guilty  to   participating  in   an  illegal   drug

            distribution scheme  knowing (as  an aider and  abettor) that

            another  co-conspirator(s) carried firearm(s) during the said
            _______

            distribution.  . . ."  (emphasis in original).1  The evidence

            is sufficient to support Figueroa's guilty plea to the aiding

            and abetting of carrying under   924(c)(1).

                      B. Rivero
                         ______

                      Rivero, like  the other defendants,  pleaded guilty

            to  aiding  and abetting  the  use or  carrying  of firearms.

            Because we  have found that Figueroa  carried firearms within

            the meaning  of    924(c)(1),  Rivero's  admitted  status  as

            Figueroa's co-conspirator  in the drug trafficking offense is

            sufficient  to uphold his  guilty plea to  the firearms count

            under Ramirez-Ferrer.  Moreover, Rivero did not object to the
                  ______________

            section  in  his  PSR  that  stated  that  Figueroa  brought,

                                
            ____________________

            1.  We also note that all three defendants at their change of
            plea  hearings agreed  with the  government's version  of the
            facts which stated that during the commission of the two drug
            trafficking offenses "the co-conspirators carried firearms."

                                         -7-

            distributed  and  hence,  carried  the  firearms  during  the

            commission of a drug trafficking offense.

                      Rivero also maintains that  he should be allowed to

            withdraw his guilty plea because the court gave an  imprecise

            definition  of "aiding  and  abetting" when  it accepted  his

            plea.   During  the  Rule 11  hearing the  following colloquy

            ensued:

                      THE  COURT:   The  charge  is  aiding and
                      abetting, which means if there is a group
                      of  persons that  are  in common  consort
                      carrying out an activity  and one or more
                      has weapons while the illegal activity is
                      going on, if you  are aiding and abetting
                      in the importation of cocaine and persons
                      are using weapons and you  are charged as
                      an aider  or abettor in the possession of
                      those firearms.    You may  not have  had
                      them  personally  on your  person  but if
                      there were others that had them, then you
                      could be charged as  an aider and abettor
                      and that is what  you are charged with in
                      Count 6.

                      THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.

                      THE  COURT:   And  that is  what you  are
                      pleading guilty to.

                      THE DEFENDANT:  Yes, sir.

            We  fail to  see,  and Rivero  has  not explained,  what  was

            lacking in this explanation.  Based on Figueroa's carrying of

            firearms we find that the  evidence is sufficient to  support

            Rivero's aiding and abetting the carrying of firearms.2

                                
            ____________________

            2.  Rivero also complains that the court  erred by using pre-
            Bailey  law  in  its  explanation  of  the  firearms  charge,
            ______
            rendering the guilty  plea non-knowing and voluntary.   As we
            explained,  ante, however,  Rivero accepted  the government's
                        ____

                                         -8-

                      C. Cespedes
                         ________

                      Unlike the other two defendants, Cespedes  does not

            seek  to overturn  his guilty  plea to  the firearms  charge.

            Instead,  he  contests   the  imposition  of   the  five-year

            consecutive sentence required under    924(c), arguing for  a

            concurrent  sentence under  U.S.S.G.   5G1.2(c).3   Although,

            strictly speaking,  appeals to "correct a  sentence" are more

            properly  pursued  via  a  habeas petition  under  28  U.S.C.

              2255,  Cespedes' arguments  touch  on the  validity of  the

            conviction, making review appropriate in this forum.

                       Cespedes contends "the elements of carrying or use

            were not  present in relation  to the Count  One crime."   We

            dispose of  this assertion  in  short order.   Cespedes'  PSR

            stated that during the earlier unsuccessful attempt to import

            marijuana  "Mr. Figueroa  distributed several  firearms among

            the co-conspirators" and that Cespedes, among  others, "while

            in possession of firearms, waited at the mouth of the Humacao

            River  . . . ."  Cespedes did  not object to  this section of

                                
            ____________________

            contention  that  Figueroa  facilitated and  distributed  the
            firearms,  negating  any  possible  claim  of   ignorance  or
            involuntariness.

            3.  Section 5G1.2(c) states:

                      If  the  sentence  imposed on  the  count
                      carrying the highest statutory maximum is
                      adequate to achieve the total punishment,
                      then  the sentences  on all  counts shall
                      run  concurrently,  except to  the extent
                      otherwise required by law.

                                         -9-

            the  PSR.  Given that  we have already  found that Figueroa's

            behavior meets  the standard for carrying  within the meaning

            of    924(c)(1),  we  see  no  reason  to  reverse  Cespedes'

            sentence on this basis.

                      Cespedes  also  claims  that  the  court  erred  in

            including  in his  criminal history  category computation  an

            earlier  withheld  adjudication  ending  in a  plea  of  nolo

            contendere.   There are two prongs to  his attack.  First, he

            argues that a plea of nolo contendere can not be equated with

            a guilty plea for the purposes  of the sentencing guidelines.

            We addressed this issue  in United States v. Pierce,  60 F.3d
                                        _____________    ______

            886  (1st Cir. 1995), cert.  denied, 116 S.  Ct. 2580 (1996),
                                  _____________

            where  we concluded  that an  event which  establishes guilt,

            whether  "by  guilty   plea,  trial,  or  by   plea  of  nolo

            contendere," is includable in a  defendant's criminal history

            computation.  Id. at 892.
                          ___

                      Cespedes' second argument is that the court  should

            have  allowed  him to  attack  collaterally  this same  state

            charge because he was appointed counsel only at the "instant"

            he made the nolo contendere  plea.  For support he relies  on

            Custis v. United States, 511 U.S. 485 (1994), which held that
            ______    _____________

            a  collateral attack on a prior state conviction at a federal

            sentencing proceeding  can be had  only if the  defendant can

            claim  total absence  of  counsel in  violation of  the Sixth

            Amendment.    Id. at  496.    Such  was  not the  case  here.
                          ___

                                         -10-

            Cespedes acknowledges that  he had counsel  when he gave  the

            plea of nolo contendere.  That it was, perhaps, not effective

            counsel because of the timing, is an argument to be made in a

            habeas petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C.   2255.

                      The convictions and sentences of the defendants are
                      ___________________________________________________

            affirmed.
            ________

                                         -11-