United States Tenth Circuit

Defendant's drug conspiracy conviction is affirmed where: 1) sharing a common supplier, without more, did not demonstrate that two drug dealers were acting together for their shared mutual benefit; and 2) the mere introduction of a common supplier, made by one drug dealer to another, was not sufficient to create a single conspiracy among all the dealers, but these errors did not affect defendant's substantial rights. However, defendant's sentence is vacated where the jury-s determination of drug quantity was clearly erroneous because it was based on an unsupported tripartite conspiracy.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/29/2009
• Published 12/29/2009

Judges

• LUCERO, Circuit Judge., Before LUCERO, ANDERSON, and EBEL, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• John T. Carlson, Assistant Federal Public Defender (Raymond P. Moore, Federal Public Defender, with him on the briefs), Denver, CO, for the Defendant-Appellant., Sanford C. Coats, Assistant U.S. Attorney (John C. Richter, U.S. Attorney, with him on the briefs), Oklahoma City, OK, for the Plaintiff-Appellee.