United States First Circuit

Defendant's conviction for his role in a scheme to illegally obtain and distribute prescription drugs is affirmed where: 1) although the district court erred in allowing testimony about the guilty pleas of defendant's former co-defendants, this error was harmless; 2) the district court was correct to deny defendant's Rule 29 motion for an acquittal as there was ample evidence to connect him to the patient lists and to support use of these lists to determine the drug quantity attributable to him; and 3) in resolving a claim of sentencing error, in determining the appropriate sentence within the guidelines, or in varying from the guidelines, a sentencing court has discretion to consider the defendant's cooperation with the government as an 18 U.S.C. section 3553(a) factor, even if the government has not made a U.S.S.G. section 5K1.1 motion for a downward departure.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/29/2012
• Published 08/29/2012

Judges

• Lipez

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel