U.S. v. Deitz
| Citation | 577 F.3d 672 |
| Decision Date | 20 August 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-3410.,05-3410. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Rex A. DEITZ, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit) |
Dennis C. Belli, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. Joseph R. Wilson, Assistant United States Attorney, Toledo, Ohio, for Appellee.
ON BRIEF:
Dennis C. Belli, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant. Joseph R. Wilson, Ava M.R. Dustin, Assistant United States Attorneys, Toledo, Ohio, for Appellee.
Before: COLE and CLAY, Circuit Judges; CLELAND, District Judge.*
Defendant-Appellant Rex A. Deitz appeals his conviction by a jury for conspiracy to possess and distribute more than 50 grams but less than 500 grams of methamphetamine under 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B), and 846. He also challenges his corresponding 144-month sentence. Deitz's conviction and sentence arise from his involvement with the Outlaw Motorcycle Club ("OMC" or "Outlaws"), an international motorcycle club with chapters nationwide and abroad. Following a large-scale investigation, Deitz and thirty-seven co-defendants were indicted for an alleged widespread conspiracy involving violations of the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Practices Act ("RICO"), 18 U.S.C. § 1961, et seq., and various narcotics and firearms laws. Deitz asserts that his conviction is not supported by sufficient evidence, numerous other instances of trial error and prosecutorial misconduct violated his constitutional rights, the district court's decision to empanel an anonymous jury was an abuse of discretion, and his 144-month sentence is unreasonable. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM the judgment of conviction and sentence imposed by the district court.
A. History of the OMC and Deitz's conviction
Since its founding outside of Chicago in 1935, the OMC has grown into an international motorcycle club with over 1700 dues-paying members belonging to 176 chapters throughout the United States and twelve foreign countries. See United States Department of Justice, About Violent Gangs, available at http://www.usdoj. gov/criminal/gangunit/about/omgangs.html (last visited July 20, 2009). The Outlaws are reputed to engage in a number of criminal activities, including arson, assault, explosives, extortion, fraud, homicide, intimidation, kidnapping, money laundering, prostitution, robbery, theft, and weapons violations. According to the United States Department of Justice gang reports, the Outlaws have a history of secrecy and violence, and are also well-known for retaliating against witnesses and informants. Id.
In December 1997, the Toledo, Ohio office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") and state law enforcement agencies began investigating the "Green region" of the Outlaws, which consists of OMC chapters in Dayton, Ohio; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As a result of the FBI investigation, in April of 2003, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Ohio returned a forty-count indictment charging thirty-eight defendants with various offenses, including violations of RICO, drug trafficking, and firearms offenses. Deitz, a former Outlaw from 1987 through 1994, was charged with both the narcotics and firearms conspiracies.
The court tried the defendants charged with the RICO violations separately (United States v. Wheeler, No. 3:03-cr-07739 (N.D.Ohio)), and at the close of the first trial, the Government obtained a superseding indictment against thirteen defendants, which set forth two separate counts. Count 1, the narcotics conspiracy charge, and Count 2, the firearms conspiracy charge, were abbreviated versions of the drug and firearms conspiracy counts in the original indictment. Deitz was once again charged with both the narcotics conspiracy and the firearms conspiracy. Ten of the thirteen defendants charged under the superseding indictment pleaded guilty, but Deitz, Steven Warman, and Lloyd Heckman proceeded to trial together.
At trial, numerous government witnesses testified as to Deitz's involvement in the narcotics and firearms conspiracy, specifically describing incidents where Deitz sold methamphetamine, marijuana, and other drugs, and noting Deitz's participation in a drive-by shooting of a rival motorcycle gang's Indiana "clubhouse." The government also presented evidence of drugs seized from Deitz during 1991 and 1998 traffic stops occurring in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1991, acting on a tip from a confidential informant that Deitz would be transporting drugs from the Dayton clubhouse, officers stopped Deitz while he was driving back from Dayton to Kentucky. A warranted search of Deitz's car revealed approximately 195 grams of cocaine in a bag on the floor of the back seat. In 1998, police stopped Deitz at a Louisville, Kentucky roadblock. When Deitz failed to provide proof of insurance, the officers' search of his car turned up a briefcase containing marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, and $2000 in cash.
In defending the charges set forth in the indictment, Deitz argued that he withdrew from membership in the Outlaws in 1994, and that he has not attended club meetings or events since then. He also testified that he has never manufactured methamphetamine or sold drugs, and that because James "Frank" Wheeler, the international OMC president, prohibited methamphetamine sales in the Green region, the government's theory that Deitz was a prominent methamphetamine dealer within the OMC narcotics conspiracy was unsupported.
On August 27, 2004, the jury returned a general verdict finding Deitz and Warman guilty of Count 1 (the narcotics conspiracy); Heckman was acquitted of Count 1, and Deitz was acquitted of Count 2 (the firearms conspiracy). The jury also returned a special verdict attributing more than 50 grams but less than 500 grams of methamphetamine to Deitz. The district court sentenced Deitz to 144 months' imprisonment and five years' supervised release. Deitz now appeals.
Deitz first challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction for the narcotics conspiracy. The relevant question on appeal is "`whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.'" United States v. Martinez, 430 F.3d 317, 330 (6th Cir.2005) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979)). "In making this determination, however, we may not reweigh the evidence, reevaluate the credibility of witnesses, or substitute our judgment for that of the jury." Id.
"[T]o sustain a conviction for conspiracy under 21 U.S.C. § 846, the government must have proved: (1) an agreement to violate drug laws, in this case 21 U.S.C. § 841; (2) knowledge and intent to join the conspiracy; and (3) participation in the conspiracy." Martinez, 430 F.3d at 330 (citing United States v. Welch, 97 F.3d 142, 148-49 (6th Cir.1996)). "[P]roof of a formal agreement is not necessary; a tacit or material understanding among the parties will suffice." Id. (internal citations omitted). "The existence of a conspiracy `may be inferred from circumstantial evidence that can reasonably be interpreted as participation in the common plan.'" United States v. Salgado, 250 F.3d 438, 447 (6th Cir.2001) (quoting United States v. Avery, 128 F.3d 966, 971 (6th Cir.1997)). Once a conspiracy is shown beyond a reasonable doubt, a defendant's connection to the conspiracy, "need only be slight, and the government is only required to prove that the defendant was a party to the general conspiratorial agreement." Id.
" United States v. Gibbs, 182 F.3d 408, 420 (6th Cir.1999) (quoting United States v. Bostic, 480 F.2d 965, 968 (6th Cir.1973)).
Drug distribution conspiracies are often "chain" conspiracies such that agreement can be inferred from the interdependence of the enterprise. One can assume that participants understand that they are participating in a joint enterprise because success is dependent on the success of those from whom they buy and to whom they sell.
United States v. Henley, 360 F.3d 509, 513 (6th Cir.2004) (quoting United States v. Spearman, 186 F.3d 743, 746 (6th Cir. 1999)). We also have noted that the government must "show the willful membership of [a] defendant in the conspiracy, but the government need not prove that the defendant committed an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy." United States v. Gardner, 488 F.3d 700, 711 (6th Cir.2007).
Deitz contends that his conviction for conspiracy is not supported by sufficient evidence because: (1) the government failed to prove that his alleged possession of cocaine in 1991 constituted an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy; (2) the government failed to prove that his methamphetamine sales to Jerry Bloor, a confidential informant, and his marijuana transactions with Danny "Tubby" Garland, an Indianapolis chapter Outlaw, occurred within the scope of the conspiracy; (3) his 1998 drug possession and his 1999 offer to sell drugs to James Dilts, a confidential informant, involved single-participant acts that were not connected to the charged conspiracy; and (4) Bloor's testimony does not support the special verdict as to drug quantity. We consider each of Deitz's arguments in turn.
On...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Bermudez
...however, have the same unduly prejudicial impact as "witness protection program" or at "state expense."The case of United States v. Deitz , 577 F.3d 672, 689 (6th Cir. 2009), cert. denied, 559 U.S. 984, 130 S. Ct. 1720, 176 L. Ed. 2d 201 (2010), is analogous to the circumstances of the pres......
-
Gillispie v. Miami Twp.
...F.3d 88, 103 (3d Cir. 1993); Halberstam v. Welch, 227 U.S. App. D.C. 167, 705 F.2d 472, 481 (D.C. Cir. 1983)); see United States v. Deitz, 577 F.3d 672, 693 (6th Cir. 2009) ("where a conspiracy is ongoing, a conspirator is liable for the acts of his co-conspirators during the relevant statu......
-
Marcusse v. United States
...court can empanel an anonymous jury whenever the interests of justice so require. 28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(7) (1992); United States v. Deitz, 577 F.3d 672, 684 (6th Cir. 2009). Protecting the targets of a threat is in the interests of justice. See, e.g., Deitz, 577 F.3d at 685. The Court empanel......
-
United States v. Sadler
...transactions, an established method of payment, and trust between the buyer and seller." Id. (quoting United States v. Deitz , 577 F.3d 672, 680–81 (6th Cir. 2009) ). For starters, the jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that each "Polo" drug deal was "part of a larger drug cons......
-
Sentencing
...considered when imposed within 10 years of instant offense despite delay between commencement of offense and trial); U.S. v. Deitz, 577 F.3d 672, 698-99 (6th Cir. 2009) (prior sentence properly considered when within 10 years of commencement of instant offense); U.S. v. Vaughn, 722 F.3d 918......
-
Trials
...in organized crime with violent culture and faced lengthy sentences, and case risked significant media attention); U.S. v. Deitz, 577 F.3d 672, 684-86 (6th Cir. 2009) (no abuse of discretion to impanel anonymous jury because defendants closely associated with large-scale criminal enterpris......
-
Online prostitution and trafficking.
...in the War on Modern Day Slavery, 18 Geo. MASON L. REV. 759, 781 (2011) (internal quotation marks omitted); see United States v. Dietz, 577 F.3d 672, 677 (6th Cir. (338) ABA Section of Antitrust Law, RICO State By State: A Guide to Litigation Under the State Racketeering Statutes 1 (2d ed. ......