201 F.3d 433 (2nd Cir. 1999), 99-1180, U.S. v. Feliciano

• Citation: 201 F.3d 433
• Party Name: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Jose FELICIANO, aka "Holly," aka "Cheo," et al., Defendants; Anthony URBISTANDO, aka "Teardrop", Defendant-Appellant.
• Case Date: December 23, 1999
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals, U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 433

201 F.3d 433 (2nd Cir. 1999)

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,

v.

Jose FELICIANO, aka "Holly," aka "Cheo," et al., Defendants;

Anthony URBISTANDO, aka "Teardrop", Defendant-Appellant.

No. 99-1180.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

December 23, 1999

Editorial Note:

This opinion appears in the Federal reporter in a table titled "Table of Decisions Without Reported Opinions". (See FI CTA2 s 0.23 regarding use of unpublished opinions)

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Cote, J.

Thomas H. Nooter, New York, NY, for appellant.

Margery B. Feinzig, Assistant United States Attorney, Mary Jo White, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York, NY; Alexander A.E. Shapiro, on the brief, for appellee.

Present WALKER, PARKER, and SOTOMAYOR, Circuit Judges.

ON CONSIDERATION WHEREOF, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the judgment of the district court be and it hereby is AFFIRMED.

Roman Pena was shot and killed on May 15, 1995. Evidence adduced at trial, relevant for this appeal, demonstrated that Pena supplied heroin to Stephen Feliciano, who was unable to pay the approximately $1,100 that he owed to Pena. Feliciano asked defendant-appellant Anthony Urbistando, one of Feliciano's heroin pushers, to shoot Pena in exchange for money that Urbistando would find in Pena's possession. Pena was shot several times in Feliciano's stash apartment. Urbistando later was seen with a pistol and bragged to several people about committing the murder.

Urbistando was charged with conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(5), murder in aid of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(1) and (2), and using and carrying a firearm in relation to a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (aiding and abetting). He was tried before a jury, which found him guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and of carrying a handgun in relation to a crime of violence, but acquitted him of the murder itself. Urbistando was sentenced to 120 months' imprisonment plus one consecutive term of 60 months' imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release and mandatory assessments of $100.

On appeal, Urbistando challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for conspiracy and for carrying a handgun in relation to a crime...