(Download) "United States v. Cleaves" by Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: United States v. Cleaves
- Author : Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
- Release Date : January 06, 2002
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 56 KB
Description
The defendant, Darryl Cleaves, was indicted along with seven co-defendants in a single-count indictment charging conspiracy to distribute in excess of five kilograms of cocaine and 100 kilograms of marijuana. He went to trial alone, prior to the release of the Supreme Courts opinion in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 580 U.S. 466 (2000), and was convicted by a jury that had not been instructed to find either the type or the quantity of controlled substances involved in the conspiracy. At sentencing, the district court found that the record "plainly" sustained a conspiracy to distribute between five and 15 kilograms of cocaine and imposed a life sentence based on that finding and on a statutory enhancement resulting from the defendants prior felony drug convictions. Citing Apprendi and United States v. Dale, 178 F.3d 429 (6th Cir. 1999), the defendant now insists that he is subject to a sentence of no more than ten years, the statutory maximum for conspiracy to distribute less than 50 kilograms of marijuana. The government responds by arguing that the district court did not err in finding that Cleaves was liable for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, but concedes that the case must be remanded for resentencing or retrial on the length of the sentence to be imposed because the jury did not make a specific finding on the quantity involved in the conspiracy. For the reasons set out below, we agree with the governments position.