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In order to corroborate Agent Darin's testimony, the prosecution called one of Hankton's co-defendants, Jammah Olden. Hankton responds that [i]t's guaranteed. Agent Darin testified that butter was a common code word for cocaine and that the two were actually discussing the future sale of either crack or powder cocaine. Fraction and eight of the 11 codefendants charged in the complaint are or have been affiliated with the Vice Lords, the Black P Stones, and the Mickey Cobra Stones, all of which are subgroups of the Chicago-based People gang. After a nine month undercover narcotics investigation, in January 1998 the Chicago Police Department arrested 31 Spanish Cobras in "Operation: Mongoose", including some gang leaders. As this court has previously noted [i]t is well known that drug dealers commonly use code language out of fear that their conversations will be intercepted. United States v. Harris, 271 F.3d 690, 702 (7th Cir.2001). The trial judge concluded that Davis' base offense level was 32 along with five criminal history points, meaning that the appropriate sentencing range to be applied was 210 to 262 months. Also a member of the MCs, Olden recounted that the main source of revenue for the gang was the sale of illegal drugs. As part of the plea agreement, the government agreed to recommend that Davis be granted a 3 level reduction for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to U.S.S.G. 29. Specifically, Hankton and Davis claim that the district court erroneously calculated the quantity of drugs attributable to them and that evidence (e.g., wiretap evidence) concerning their respective leadership roles in the drug offenses was inadmissible and unreliable and should not have been considered by the sentencing judge. 2. 26. They don't want the heat. After all, a sentencing court in making its sentencing determination must draw inferences from a variety of data, including the defendant's demeanor and information in the [presentence report], in order to reach [its] conclusion. See United States v. Frazier, 213 F.3d 409, 417 (7th Cir.2000) (quoting United States v. Fones, 51 F.3d 663, 665 (7th Cir.1995)). Hankton has failed to point to anything in the record which might render Agent Darin's testimony at sentencing unreliable, aside from his assertion that portions of his Darin's testimony constituted inadmissibly hearsay. In most gangs, Knox said, the street-level security and sellers are rewarded with some money, occasional parties and the hope of moving up the gang ladder. Hankton also claims that the district court erroneously double counted when imposing his sentencing enhancements because the court considered his leadership within the MCs street gang both to enhance his sentence for finding him responsible for distributing more than 500 grams of cocaine, under 2D1.1, and for being an organizer or leader of a criminal activity, under 3B1.1. Please try again. Notes [ edit] "But none of the kids abide by it," he said. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Clarence HANKTON and Gregory Davis,1 Defendants-Appellants. The evidence presented at sentencing did not separate Hankton's activities into two distinct categories of: (1) gang activities; and (2) drug activities. Allowing an illegal sentence to stand would constitute a miscarriage of justice, see White, 406 F.3d at 835-36. Introduced were the plea agreements of Davis, Woodrow Green, Jammah Olden, Rasuah Brunner, Ngaya Brunner, Timeka Murdock and Mekeba Gates. The statements did suggest that the original order to issue Williams a beating may have emanated from, or been approved by, a higher authority in the gang; however, A and B agree that the order to beat Williams came to them directly from Hankton. It is consistent with what the court has heard as the various defendants have entered their pleas of guilty. We agree with this assessment. The District Court's Determination of Hankton's Drug Quantity. 9. 6A1.3); see also United States v. Hardamon, 188 F.3d 843, 849 (7th Cir.1999) (stating that during the sentencing phase of a criminal proceeding the rules of evidence do not apply and the sentencing judge is free to consider a wide range of evidence including hearsay.). 841(a)(1). 3661. Nonetheless, the government insisted that based on [Hankton's] offense conduct and relevant conduct he was actually responsible for distributing more than 500 grams of crack, which would result in an offense level of 36. 3E1.1. The government estimated that, based on Agent Darin's testimony and the wiretap evidence alone, Hankton was responsible for distributing approximately 456 grams of crack cocaine.16, Agent Darin also testified concerning Hankton's ascension from the role of don, the title he held in the mid-1990s, to King, the title he held from 1999 to 2001. The narcotics investigation started in the fall of 1999 when an undisclosed cooperating witness, associated with Mickey Cobras members for about 13 years, agreed to wear a hidden recorder while buying narcotics from Hankton. "And they really do have elaborate procedures.". Cobras & Matadors ($) Write a Review. Also, the reliability of the plea agreements-as well as Agent Darin's testimony for that matter-was bolstered by the fact that, at sentencing, Hankton took advantage of a reasonable opportunity to rebut the hearsay evidence used against him. United States v. Barnes, 117 F.3d 328, 338 (7th Cir.1997) (quoting United States v. Francis, 39 F.3d 803, 810 (7th Cir.1994)). Although the plea agreements of the co-defendants may have constituted hearsay, see fed. (CHICAGO) - JUN 21--Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Chicago Police Department officers arrested 29 alleged members of the Mickey Cobras Street Gang who are suspected of trafficking fentanyl-laced heroin, crack cocaine, and marijuana in parts of Chicago's Southside. Thus, because witness testimony-the testimony of a witness, Agent Darin, whom the district judge had previously determined to be credible-was introduced to corroborate information contained in the co-defendant's plea agreements and thus infused that evidence with an indicia of reliability. See United States v. Martinez, 289 F.3d at 1028-29; Torres-Ramirez, 213 F.3d at 980. "It's a fallacy that they put on paper that you have to be 16 on the line. 8,000 to 10,000 that lives in the United States of America. 2D1.1(a)(3), Hankton's base offense level was 34 due to the aggregate amount of drugs involved in the offenses he admitted to, i.e., more than 150 grams of crack. The regular Mickey Cobras sets are definitely under the 5 (People Nation . The Mickey Cobras are a lairge street gang affiliatit wi the naitionwide gang affiliation kent as the People Nation. Smith was best friends with defendant's brother. Indeed, it would be antithetical to consider these to be mutually exclusive endeavors. 3. In particular, Darin testified concerning the contents of an intercepted phone conversation of July 24, 2000 between Davis and the previously mentioned co-defendant, Jammah Olden, where the two argue over what Davis refers to as his workers. Evidently Davis became aware of the fact that Olden was selling drugs in an area where his workers were and became upset with him, telling the unidentified person (most likely Olden) on the phone that y'all better not be [sic] get caught selling [t]hey's [sic] my workers. Two days later a telephone call from Davis to Hankton (Jammah Olden is on the tape and can be overheard in the background) illustrates Davis' anger over Olden invading his workers' drug spot or lick and warns that if his people weren't allowed to continue selling drugs in that area he would fry that motherf[***]r up.. However, even where a plain error is found to exist, a court of appeals may exercise its discretion to notice a forfeited error only if the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 631, 122 S.Ct. The gang is considered very mobile, and its colors are green, black, and red. Which would make his base offense level 32. For example, in her plea agreement, Ngaya Brunner admits purchasing three eight-balls of crack cocaine from Davis, which translates into approximately 10 and one-half grams.25 The prosecution concluded that, when the plea-agreements were considered in relation to Agent Darin's testimony that Davis was a seasoned cook of cocaine, the reasonable inference was that Davis was responsible for possessing with the intent to distribute 50 to 150 grams of cocaine. Finally, Hankton and Davis request that we order a limited remand to determine whether the district court would have imposed a different sentence had it known that the Sentencing Guidelines were merely advisory. "The Horatio Alger of today is the gang leader," said Knox, referring to the 19th Century author made famous by his stories of rags-to-riches success. "He's got the props. See United States v. Puckett, 405 F.3d 589, 597 n. 8 (7th Cir.2005); United States v. Edwards, 397 F.3d 570, 574 (7th Cir.2005). June 16, 1993)). Bell pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 40 years in prison, while the other two enforcers--Jamaine Jackson and Carl Williams--were convicted at trial and given 60-year prison terms each, according to Assistant State's Atty. "If there's no rules, no one knows what's going on. "The loyalty is to the dollar," said Sgt. If you would ike to contact us via email please click . ", "They look at the buildings as their retail drugstore," said George Knox, a criminal justice professor at Chicago State University who has studied Chicago street gangs. The wiretap was granted pursuant to Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. There, he said, teenage gang members are more interested in their own pocketbook than gang loyalty. On the high end, Hankton may have supplied Olden with as much as 1071 grams of crack (which is equal to 1 oz. Also, although premising multiple enhancements on identical facts' constitutes impermissible double counting the presence of some overlap in the factual basis for two or more upward adjustments does not automatically qualify as double counting. Id. In addition, both defendants and the government agreed to reserve their respective right[s] to argue their [respective] position[s] during post-conviction proceedings concerning certain factual issues relating to the sentencing aspect of the proceedings. 843(b) and 18 U.S.C. 3B1.1(a). Armed with this information, the government obtained arrest warrants for 19 individuals connected with the MCs and, on January 2, 2001, Hankton and Davis were apprehended on allegations of conspiring to possess cocaine and crack with the intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Both men also contend that the district court erroneously enhanced their sentences based on insufficient and unreliable evidence. See, e.g., United States v. Von Loh, 417 F.3d 710, 712 (7th Cir.2005). of crack cocaine every four days over a period of five months). 2D1.1. The rationale for this is clear: The sentencing stage of a trial is one of the most important parts of the criminal process. We simply cannot be sure. The record reflects that Davis, during intercepted phone conversations, repeatedly referred to people on the street selling drugs as his workers. See supra p. 13. See supra p. 7-9. In this case the jury was confronted with conversations which contained code words that, when considered in isolation, might seem unclear, veiled and almost nonsensical, but when analyzed properly, in the context of the totality of the evidence, can clearly be seen to be code words for drugs It is true that, advisedly, no explicit mention was ever made of cocaine or other drugs in any of Vega's conversations with the Zambranas. Instead, all of the evidence presented-as well as commonsense-suggest that, in fact, Hankton's gang activities were intimately, related to and intertwined with, his drug distribution activities. On appeal, both men challenge the district court's application of the guidelines to their sentences and claim that they are entitled to be re-sentenced in accordance with the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. And gang members are forbidden from selling crack on the ground level of the building. See, e.g., United States v. Sutton, 406 F.3d 472, 474 (7th Cir.2005). The gang has existed since the late 1960s, boasts an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 members in Chicago and is described by authorities as violent, well-organized and actively involved in selling powder and crack cocaine on the West and North Sides. 21. http://www. In order for a judge to be well advised of the facts surrounding the defendant's background, and particularly in view of the judge's obligation to the general public, as well as to the defendant, to be fair, reasonable, and just, it is imperative that he be allowed to draw upon a wealth of information concerning the defendant's background, from his date of birth up to and including the moment of sentencing In order to render justice to all the judge must be able to impress upon a defendant through the expansive contents of an all encompassing sentencing report that we are a country of laws and not men.