U.S. v. Gonzales

In prosecution on drug conspiracy charges, Dist. Ct. did not err in sentencing defendant to 360-month term of incarceration based in part on enhancement arising out of defendant’s culpability in killing of rival gang member, even though jury had acquitted defendant of such murder-related charge. Dist. Ct. may consider defendant’s culpability for rival member’s death at sentencing hearing in spite of jury’s not-guilty verdict on said murder charge and could properly find by preponderance of evidence that defendant was responsible for said death based on testimonies of two witnesses to said shooting. Ct. also rejected defendant’s argument that calculation of drug quantity associated with charged drug conspiracy was required to be made by jury and further found that defendant’s sentence was not substantively unreasonable, even though it was longer than his co-defendants, since Dist. Ct. could properly give reduced sentences to co-defendants to reflect their cooperation with authorities.