US v. Hunt
| Decision Date | 29 November 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-2321,00-2321 |
| Citation | 272 F.3d 488 |
| Parties | (7th Cir. 2001) United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Morris D. Hunt, Defendant-Appellant |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. No. 96-CR-30102-WDS--William D. Stiehl, Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]
[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Before Easterbrook, Evans, and Williams, Circuit Judges.
Morris Hunt was prosecuted for and convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine (by aiding and abetting the conspiracy), and money laundering. He appeals his conviction and sentence, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence for his conspiracy conviction, the district court's admission of hearsay testimony at trial and its calculation of his relevant conduct and offense level for sentencing. We affirm the conviction, but vacate the sentence and remand the case to the district court for resentencing.
Morris Hunt and Eugene Birge were friends, who had known each other for several years. Hunt sold insurance policies to Birge, and they frequently traveled together at Birge's expense. But there was more to their friendship. Birge was a leader of a major cocaine trafficking conspiracy in the East St. Louis, Illinois area. Hunt knew that Birge was involved in drug dealing, but it is unclear if he fully knew to what extent. At any rate, Hunt helped Birge handle some of the money from the drug conspiracy. Hunt purchased a 1992 Acura Legend for Birge, that cost approximately $23,500, in the name of his insurance company with loans he obtained. Birge paid Hunt for the car in cash. In addition, Birge went to Hunt's office several times, and Hunt helped Birge to count money. They counted at least $20,000 each time.
Sometime later, agents in the federal Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") began investigating Birge's drug conspiracy. The investigation resulted in the indictment of twenty-three individuals for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base ("crack cocaine"), including Hunt for his role as aider and abetter, and money launderer, in the conspiracy. The indictment was obtained in part with the assistance of Birge, who decided to cooperate with the government. Unfortunately, he was murdered several months before the first indictment was returned. Twenty-two of the defendants decided to plead guilty; only Hunt proceeded to trial.
At trial, several co-conspirators-- including James Birge, Jr., Clifton Bernard, and Darwin Rockett--testified concerning the drug trafficking conspiracy and their knowledge of Hunt's involvement in the conspiracy, largely regarding the purchase of the Acura Legend. DEA Special Agents Michael Rehg and Larry Fox, and Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") Special Agents Kevin Martens and Joe Zingrichtestified about their conversations with Hunt, covering the Acura Legend purchase and the money he counted with Birge. They also relayed information that they had gained from their investigations, including conversations with Birge regarding Hunt's purchase of the Acura Legend.
Hunt did not testify or present any evidence in his defense. He was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine under 21 U.S.C. sec.sec. 2, 841(a)(1) and 846,1 and convicted of money laundering under 18 U.S.C. sec.sec. 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) and (2).
At sentencing, the district court calculated Hunt's relevant conduct and offense level for sentencing under section 2D1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines for a drug trafficking conspiracy. The district court converted the amount of money Hunt laundered and counted into kilograms of cocaine to apply the guideline, using the street price of one kilogram of cocaine. The district court held him accountable for 4 kilograms ($83,500): 1 kilogram for the Acura Legend purchase ($23,500) and 3 kilograms for counting money with Birge ($60,000) at least three times, which was the district court's interpretation of "several." The district court then denied Hunt a reduction as a minor participant in the conspiracy, because he was held accountable only for the money he actually laundered and counted. Hunt was sentenced to 97 months in prison. He now appeals.
Hunt challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine. His challenge is a formidable one, which rarely carries the day. See United States v. Hickok, 77 F.3d 992, 1002 (7th Cir. 1996) (). We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and will uphold the conviction if "any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt." Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979) (emphasis in original).
Hunt was convicted of conspiracy because of his role as an aider and abetter of the conspiracy, and therefore in this challenge, we must consider the elements for aiding and abetting to determine the sufficiency of the evidence, not conspiracy. Aiding and abetting has three elements, requiring "knowledge of the illegal activity that is being aided and abetted, a desire to help the activity succeed, and some act of helping." United States v. Zafiro, 945 F.2d 881, 887 (7th Cir. 1991) (emphasis in original). Hunt argues that the government did not present sufficient evidence to support an inference of his knowledge of the conspiracy and that his assistance was too trivial to support an inference of a desire to see the conspiracy succeed. We address each of these arguments in turn.
The evidence of knowledge and desire in this case is circumstantial, but straightforward. Hunt and Birge had been friends for some time. They traveled together on numerous trips, which were paid for by Birge. Hunt admitted to DEA agents that he believed Birge was involved in drug dealing. Birge was in fact involved in drug dealing, and on a very large scale. From September 1992 until at least February 1996, members of the conspiracy acquired and distributed approximately 174 kilograms of cocaine in the East St. Louis area, and Birge was a source of supply for the mid-level dealers in the conspiracy. On several occasions, Birge appeared at Hunt's office with at least $20,000, and Hunt helped Birge to count the money. Birge also gave Hunt approximately $23,500 in cash to purchase an Acura Legend, which Hunt purchased, arranging for loans and putting the automobile in the name of his insurance company.
This circumstantial evidence of Hunt's knowledge is not overwhelming, but is sufficient. A rational juror could have reasonably inferred from the friendship, the trips, and the drug money in the Acura Legend purchase and in the counting, that Hunt and Birge, one of the principals in a drug trafficking conspiracy, had a close relationship of mutual trust and confidence. A rational juror could have also reasonably inferred that the large quantities of cash that they counted and that was involved in the car purchase pointed to a much broader operation than Birge alone. And finally, a rational juror could have reasonably inferred that Hunt's activities constituted significant participation to further the objectives of the conspiracy. Added together, the facts and inferences reflect knowledge of the conspiracy. A rational juror could have believed beyond a reasonable doubt that Hunt knew he was helping a drug conspiracy.
We also believe that despite the enormity of the conspiracy, Hunt's participation was not trivial. Hunt laundered at least $23,500 in the Acura Legend deal, washing the conspiracy's dirty money through his legitimate business, which concealed the true source of the funds and protected the conspiracy. Hunt also counted at least $60,000, providing "in-house" accounting for the conspiracy counting its cash. His assistance was critical to maintaining the secrecy and continuation of the conspiracy.
But the basic question here is whether a rational juror may infer beyond a reasonable doubt from the facts presented Hunt's desire to see the conspiracy succeed. We believe, on the basis of all the evidence, a rational juror could make such an inference. Plugging potentially life-threatening holes of the conspiracy is not the type of trivial assistance we have before rejected. Compare United States v. Irwin, 149 F.3d 567, 574 (7th Cir. 1998) ().
Hunt next challenges several evidentiary rulings by the district court, in particular its (1) denial of his request for a Santiago hearing, (2) admission of hearsay testimony by co-conspirators Birge, Jr., Bernard, and Rockett, whotestified concerning conversations with Birge, and (3) admission of hearsay testimony by DEA and IRS agents, who also testified concerning conversations with Birge. We ordinarily review the district court's evidentiary determinations for abuse of discretion.2 See, e.g., United States v. Smith, 230 F.3d 300, 307 (7th Cir. 2000). That is to say, we ask whether a reasonable person could agree with the decision of the district court. We address each challenge separately and find that there was no abuse of discretion.
In United States v. Santiago, 582 F.2d 1128 (7th Cir. 1978), overruled on other grounds by Bourjaily v. United States, 483 U.S. 171 (1987), we...
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