Defendant was found guilty of twelve counts of attempted heroin distribution and one count of drug conspiracy. Defendant appealed his conspiracy conviction, arguing that the government failed to present sufficient evidence to sustain the conviction and that the district court plainly erred by not giving buyer-seller jury instructions even though defendant approved the final instructions and never argued a buyer-seller relationship. A panel of the appellate court reversed and remanded for a new trial, but the Seventh Circuit voted to rehear the case en banc and a divided court affirmed, holding that repeated, distribution-quantity drug transactions alone can sustain a conspiracy conviction. (SYKES, BRENNAN, ST. EVE, PRYOR, and KOLAR, concurring, EASTERBROOK, specially concurring, and JACKSON-AKIWUMI, ROVNER, and LEE dissenting)
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Drug Conspiracy