United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________

No. 99-1753 ___________

United States of America, * * Appellee, * * v. * * Nathan Williams, Jr., * * Appellant. * Appeals from the United States __________ District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. No. 99-1755 __________ [UNPUBLISHED]

United States of America, * * Appellee, * * v. * * Jerry Tronne Brown, * * Appellant. * ___________

Submitted: September 14, 1999 Filed: September 22, 1999 ___________

Before McMILLIAN, FAGG, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges. ___________

PER CURIAM.

Nathan Williams, Jr. and Jerry Tronne Brown (collectively the appellants) appeal their drug-related convictions. Brown also raises a sentencing argument. Having carefully considered the record and the appellants' arguments, we conclude the record supports the district court's decisions because the appellants' contentions are foreclosed by this court’s holdings, otherwise without merit, or both.

First, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Brown's motion for severance. Second, the district court did not commit error in admitting tape-recorded conversations between Williams, a coconspirator, and a nontestifying informant or by permitting the jury to use transcripts of the taped conversations while listening to the tapes, and, even if there was error, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt in light of the overwhelming evidence of the appellants' guilt. Third, we reject Brown's sentencing argument because the district court's findings about the amount of drugs involved are not clearly erroneous.

Because an extended opinion would simply rehash this court’s well-established precedents, we summarily affirm the appellants' convictions and Brown's sentence. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.

A true copy.

Attest:

CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.

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