Court Opinion

ID: 992115
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-03 23:46:50.476034+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:37:47.089950
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.                                                                      No. 96-4693

DAVID COVINGTON,
Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria.
Leonie M. Brinkema, District Judge.
(CR-96-112-A)

Submitted: March 25, 1997

Decided: April 28, 1997

Before WILKINS, LUTTIG, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

_________________________________________________________________

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

Gregory B. English, ENGLISH & SMITH, Alexandria, Virginia, for
Appellant. Helen F. Fahey, United States Attorney, Henry L. Thag-
gert, III, Special Assistant United States Attorney, Alexandria, Vir-
ginia, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).
OPINION

PER CURIAM:

David Covington appeals his conviction for conspiring to possess
with the intent to distribute and to distribute heroin, aiding and abet-
ting the introduction of heroin into a penal institution, and use of a
communication facility to distribute heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C.
§ 846 (1994), D.C. Code Ann. § 22-2603 (1981), 18 U.S.C. § 2
(1994), and 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) (1994). We affirm.

Covington contends that the evidence at trial was insufficient to
support the conspiracy conviction. The government must show two
elements in a conspiracy case: (1) an agreement between two or more
persons, and (2) an intent to achieve a certain objective through
unlawful means. See United States v. Burgos, 94 F.3d 849, 857 (4th
Cir. 1996) (en banc), cert. denied, 65 U.S.L.W. 3586 (U.S. Feb. 24,
1997) (No. 96-6868). We must affirm Covington's conviction "if
there is substantial evidence, taking the view most favorable to the
Government, to support it." Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80
(1942).

Viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, the evi-
dence at trial showed that Covington made arrangements with an
unnamed person to deliver heroin to his girlfriend, who then delivered
the heroin to Covington in Lorton Reformatory. Further testimony
established that the amount of heroin delivered was of a distribution
amount in the prison setting. Further, the heroin was divided into
seven individual packets. Finally, Covington made calls to several
people to arrange for drugs to be brought to his girlfriend, who would
then deliver the drugs to him. Viewing this evidence in the light most
favorable to the Government, it is sufficient to sustain a conviction for
conspiracy.

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court. We dis-
pense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument
would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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