United States Tenth Circuit

Defendants' drug convictions and sentences are affirmed in part where the district court's RICO instructions were adequate because they required that the members of the alleged RICO enterprise shared a common purpose, that they interacted or associated in some way to advance this shared purpose, and that the members of the enterprise so functioned long enough to complete a pattern of racketeering activity. However, the convictions are reversed in part where defendants' prosecutions for both drug conspiracy and for participating in a continuing criminal enterprise amounted to double jeopardy.

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/27/2009
• Published 07/27/2009

Judges

• GORSUCH, Circuit Judge., Before GORSUCH, McKAY, and BALDOCK, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Howard A. Pincus, Assistant Federal Public Defender (Raymond P. Moore with him on the briefs), Denver, CO, for Defendant-Appellant Alvin Hutchinson., Nancy L. Simmons, Law Offices of Nancy L. Simmons, P.C., Albuquerque, NM, for Defendant-Appellant Lee Arthur Thompson., Wade H. Eldridge, Denver, CO, for Defendant-Appellant Junior Ray Montoya., Dennis W. Hartley, Dennis W. Hartley, P.C., Colorado Springs, CO, for Defendant-Appellant William L. Gladney., James C. Murphy, Assistant United States Attorney (Troy A. Eid, United States Attorney with him on the brief), Denver, CO, for Plaintiff-Appellee United States in Case No. 07-1204., John M. Hutchins, Assistant United States Attorney (Troy A. Eid, United States Attorney;  Gregory Rhodes, Assistant United States Attorney;  Jaime A. Pena, Assistant United States Attorney with him on the brief), Denver, CO, for Plaintiff-Appellee United States in Case Nos. 07-1230, 07-1234, 07-1264.