U.S. v. Missick

• Decision Date: 24 May 1989
• Docket Number: No. 88-3095,88-3095
• Citation: 875 F.2d 1294
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Richard Algie MISSICK, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 1294

875 F.2d 1294

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Richard Algie MISSICK, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 88-3095.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued April 3, 1989.

Decided May 24, 1989.

Steven D. Allen, Indianapolis, Ind., for defendant-appellant.

Melanie Conour, Asst. U.S. Atty., Indianapolis, Ind., for plaintiff-appellee.

Before BAUER, Chief Judge, and CUMMINGS and EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judges.

CUMMINGS, Circuit Judge.

Defendant Richard Algie Missick appeals from his convictions of conspiracy to import approximately eleven ounces of cocaine into the United States pursuant to 21 U.S.C. Sec. 963 and possession of approximately one ounce of cocaine with the intent to distribute pursuant to 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1). The defendant was sentenced to imprisonment of ninety-six months on the first count and a concurrent term of twelve months imprisonment on the second count, with three years of supervised release on parole to follow. On appeal, defendant contends that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to sustain the conviction and that District Judge Tinder erred in denying the defendant's motion to suppress tape-recorded evidence, warranting reversal of the judgment. Alternatively, defendant seeks remand for resentencing on the basis that the district court improperly departed from the Sentencing Guidelines. We affirm the conviction, but remand for resentencing in conformity with the Sentencing Guidelines.

I.

Missick's indictment resulted from an investigation into drug trafficking based on information provided by Robert Jason Settles, who agreed to cooperate with the government upon his arrest on February 19, 1988. Settles testified that he began selling cocaine in 1984, obtaining his cocaine from local sources until 1987, when he began taking trips to the Bahamas to purchase the drugs from a source known as "Cecil". On one such trip on September 8, 1987, Settles was unable to meet with Cecil and was instead introduced to Missick by an individual named Frederick, a/k/a "Sleepy". Settles purchased approximately four ounces of cocaine from Missick at that time and observed approximately seven kilos of cocaine in Missick's possession.

Following the September trip, Settles made three more trips to the Bahamas to purchase cocaine from Missick in November and December of 1987 and February of 1988, the last of which resulted in his search and arrest by the U.S. Customs Service at the Indianapolis International Airport upon his return from the Bahamas on February 19, 1988. The government found approximately eleven ounces of cocaine in Settles' luggage. Settles informed the government and later testified that he purchased the cocaine from Missick in the Bahamas at the cement plant where Missick worked and that he informed Missick during the purchase that he would be bringing the cocaine into the United States. ¹

Settles further related that his trips were financed by David Jan Fluhr and Philip D. Whisner. Specifically, Whisner had given Settles $1,000 for the delivery of one ounce of cocaine from the September 1987 trip. Whisner and Fluhr each made the same financial arrangements for the November and December trips in 1987. For the February 1988 trip, Whisner provided Settles with his wife's credit card to purchase airfare for Settles and his girlfriend, Kimberly King, totaling $400, as well as $600 in cash in return for one ounce of cocaine. Fluhr advanced Settles $3,000 for which Fluhr was to receive three ounces of cocaine with profits from any remaining purchases to be split between the two.

After his agreement to cooperate with the law enforcement officers, Settles allowed law enforcement agents to monitor telephone conversations with Whisner and Fluhr in which Settles arranged for surveillance of the deliveries of the cocaine obtained during the February 1988 trip. In the presence of government agents, Settles removed and packaged from the eleven ounces seized upon his arrest four one-ounce quantities for delivery to Fluhr, Whisner and Fluhr's girlfriend, Linda Susan Gross. The government retained the remaining seven ounces as well as a sample from each of the four one-ounce packages. The deliveries were to take place together at Settles' Indianapolis residence which was searched and equipped with listening devices. Government agents listened as Settles, Fluhr, Gross and King used some of the cocaine. Following the deliveries, Fluhr, Gross and Whisner were arrested upon leaving Settles' residence, the four ounces of cocaine were recovered and the three were eventually charged along with Settles in a five-count indictment. The indictment was comprised of one count of conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, two counts of cocaine possession, and two counts of carrying a firearm during the commission of a drug-trafficking offense under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c), ² and the case was consolidated with this case for trial on May 24, 1988.

The investigation into Settles' source in the Bahamas continued with his placing consensually monitored and recorded telephone calls to the telephone number he identified as that of his source, "Algie". The telephone number was registered to Richard Algie Missick of 55 Fleming Road, Freeport, Bahamas. Settles also provided the government with the recordings of incoming telephone calls and messages received at his residence.

Settles placed the first such call on March 7, 1988, to the telephone number registered to Missick. During this conversation, Settles and the defendant discussed the market price of hashish and the success of the cocaine sales from the quantity Settles purchased from Missick.

On April 14, 1988, Missick left two messages on Settles' answering machine and eventually held a conversation with Settles. Missick indicated in the conversation that he wished to "check Settles", which Settles testified to mean that Missick wished to check out Indianapolis before delivering a large quantity of cocaine. Missick inquired Two more conversations between Settles and Missick transpired and were recorded on April 16, 1988. During those conversations, Missick inquired as to how long it would take to drive from Cincinnati to Indianapolis and that he would bring a Peruvian "Oz" with him. Settles testified that a Peruvian "Oz" referred to an ounce of high quality cocaine.

as to the market price for an "O" or ounce of cocaine to which Settles responded the price was between $900 and $2,000.

Settles and Missick eventually arranged to meet in Covington, Kentucky, on April 17, 1988, and to travel to Indianapolis. Settles was fitted with a body recorder and transmitter and supplied with a rental car to meet Missick at his hotel. Agents listened as Settles met Missick and a female, and then as Missick pulled a one-ounce package of cocaine from behind a soda machine near his hotel room while advising Settles never to store the cocaine in the same place he stayed. Settles, Missick and the woman then proceeded in the rental car toward Indianapolis. During the drive, a discussion between Settles and Missick about their prior and future transactions, including a reference to "Sleepy", was recorded. Near Greensburg, Indiana, their car was stopped by drug enforcement agents and Missick was placed under arrest. A search of the car revealed a one-ounce package of cocaine to the left of Missick's seat, where Settles testified Missick had attempted to hide it when the car was stopped. The arresting agent also found in Missick's wallet a business card containing Settles' phone number. All of the above-recorded messages and conversations were played for the jury.

A.

At the outset, Missick contends that the government failed to establish that the eleven ounces of cocaine seized from Settles upon his arrest were sold to him by Missick, a necessary element to sustain the charge of conspiracy to import cocaine. In a related argument, Missick proposes that as a matter of law, Settles' testimony should be given no weight since, among other things, Settles is an admitted drug user, sporadically employed, and cooperated with the government in this investigation in exchange for a lenient sentencing recommendation.

It is well established that a conspirator need not know all of the members or details of a conspiracy to be held responsible as a co-conspirator. Blumenthal v. United States, 332 U.S. 539, 556, 68 S.Ct. 248, 256, 92 L.Ed. 154. The government need only prove the existence of a conspiracy and a participatory link with the defendant. United States v. Dalzotto, 603 F.2d 642, 645 (7th Cir.1979), certiorari denied, 444 U.S. 994, 100 S.Ct. 530, 62 L.Ed.2d 425.

Read in the light most favorable to the government, the evidence clearly reveals a conspiracy between Fluhr, Whisner and Settles to import cocaine into the United States. Fluhr and Whisner provided Settles with money in advance of each trip to the Bahamas in return for the delivery of specified quantities of cocaine. As revealed by the recorded telephone conversations, Missick was aware of the conspiracy to import the cocaine into the United States for further distribution and the success of the sale of the imported quantities. Missick and Settles also discussed importing larger shipments of cocaine into the United States as well. It is not necessary that the defendant knew of the identities of Fluhr and Whisner, but sufficient that Missick knew that there were further participants in the distribution chain beyond Settles.

Defendant contends that the government failed to establish that the eleven ounces seized from Settles upon his arrest in February of 1988 were purchased from Missick. The government's forensic analytic chemist testified that the composition of the approximately eleven ounces seized from Settles, as well as the one ounce obtained from Missick on February 17, 1988, was L cocaine hydrochloride. Defendant urges that because the samples tested from the eleven...