United States v. Ladronal Hamilton
Opinion
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In 2012, government investigators identified California resident Ladronal Hamilton as the source of supply for multiple distributors of phencyclidine ("PCP") in Kansas City, Missouri. A grand jury eventually charged Hamilton with conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of PCP in violation of
I. Sufficiency of the Evidence
On appeal, Hamilton argues the evidence was insufficient for several reasons, including: (1) the government's cooperating witnesses testified against him only in exchange for their own plea deals or sentence reductions and generally lacked credibility; (2) there was no evidence Hamilton had anything more than a buyer-seller relationship with any of the alleged co-conspirators; and (3) the government failed to establish Hamilton knew boxes he shipped from California to Kansas City actually contained PCP. 2
Examining the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, "[w]e review de novo the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal based on the sufficiency of the evidence."
United States v. Druger
,
*946
"To establish a conspiracy, the government must prove: (1) the existence of an agreement among two or more people to achieve an illegal purpose, (2) the defendant's knowledge of the agreement, and (3) that the defendant knowingly joined and participated in the agreement."
We reject Hamilton's argument that the government's witnesses were not credible because they were self-interested and dishonest. It is the jury's prerogative, not ours, to judge the credibility of witnesses. At trial, five cooperating witnesses testified against Hamilton. All five informed the jury about any plea agreements and sentence reductions they received (or hoped to receive) in their own proceedings in exchange for testifying against Hamilton. Hamilton also notes they all had multiple prior convictions and several were shown to have previously lied to government officials. But "[w]e have repeatedly upheld jury verdicts based solely on the testimony of conspirators and cooperating witnesses, noting it is within the province of the jury to make credibility assessments."
United States v. Buckley
,
We also reject Hamilton's argument the government failed to prove he entered into anything more than a buyer-seller relationship with any alleged co-conspirator. Hamilton specifically argues no evidence directly linked him to any PCP distributor in Kansas City. He notes that at trial, "only one witness testified to a single transaction directly with Mr. Hamilton," while the others said they merely believed Hamilton was their source of PCP. Hamilton points out that law enforcement officers did not purchase PCP from him in any controlled buys, did not overhear any phone calls to or from him during numerous wiretaps of alleged co-conspirators' calls, and did not discover his phone number on the phones seized from most of the alleged co-conspirators. However, the totality of evidence easily showed he entered into more than buyer-seller relationships with other co-conspirators.
Here, the government introduced evidence Hamilton sold
distribution quantities
of PCP to (and with) various co-conspirators in Kansas City over a period of time. At trial, a Kansas City narcotics officer experienced in undercover drug deals testified PCP dealers usually purchase the drug in liquid "ounce quantities" stored in glass or plastic bottles, while
users
generally purchase one to three cigarettes dipped in PCP. Co-conspirator George Britton later testified that, on one occasion in 2011, he purchased six one-ounce jars of PCP directly from Hamilton
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in Kansas City - the "single transaction" for which Hamilton acknowledges there was direct evidence. This transaction involved a distribution quantity of PCP and tended to show at least a tacit understanding Britton would resell the PCP in user-quantities, as Britton indeed said he did.
See
Conway
,
Finally, we reject Hamilton's argument there was insufficient evidence he
knew
boxes he sent from California to Kansas City contained PCP. Hamilton acknowledges the government introduced evidence at trial that, from October through December of 2014, a U.S. Post Office inspector made three separate seizures of suspicious parcels sent from California addresses to the Kansas City area. The postal inspector obtained consent or warrants to search the parcels and discovered each contained gallon-sized, ribbed metal cans filled with one kilogram of liquid PCP. A forensics examiner determined that packing newspaper found in one of the parcels contained Hamilton's fingerprints and that exterior packing tape contained the prints of Hamilton's girlfriend. In addition, the postal inspector used mailing records to discover video surveillance from southern California post offices showing Hamilton mailing each parcel. Still, Hamilton argues his mere physical proximity to what was discovered to be PCP is not enough to establish his knowledge of the contents of the boxes.
See
United States v. Cruz
,
This was not a matter of mere proximity. The government introduced an abundance of
circumstantial
evidence establishing Hamilton's knowledge - the usual method for doing so in this type of case.
See
United States v. Ojeda
,
II. Obstruction of Justice Enhancement
Hamilton argues a two-point sentence enhancement for obstruction of justice was unwarranted under U.S. Sentencing Guideline ("U.S.S.G." or "Guideline") § 3C1.1. The district court applied the enhancement based on threats Hamilton allegedly directed toward cooperating witnesses, but Hamilton argues his statements were too ambiguous to be considered intimidating or threatening.
We hold that even assuming the enhancement was improper, it was harmless error.
See
Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(a). The enhancement increased Hamilton's offense level under the Guidelines from 44 to 46 points, but the maximum offense level is 43 points.
See
U.S.S.G. Ch. 5, Pt. A. The Guidelines' commentary provides that "[a]n offense level of more than 43 is to be treated as an offense level of 43."
Id
. cmt. 2. Because the Guidelines recommend a life sentence for any defendant with an offense level of 43, Hamilton's Guidelines sentence would have been a life term of imprisonment with
or without
the enhancement for obstruction of justice.
See
id
. Ch. 5, Pt. A. Indeed, at sentencing the district court acknowledged Hamilton's total offense level was above the maximum and thus calculated his sentencing range based on an offense level of 43, not 46. Contrary to Hamilton's argument on appeal, then, the district court's calculation of his Guidelines sentence was correct even assuming the obstruction of justice enhancement was erroneous.
Cf.
United States v. Durham
,
However, even if the district court miscalculated Hamilton's Guidelines sentence, we have said this, too, is harmless error "when the district court indicates it would have alternatively imposed the same sentence even if a lower guideline range applied."
United States v. Dace
,
Therefore, Hamilton's challenge to his obstruction of justice enhancement also fails.
III. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
The Honorable Gary A. Fenner, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri.
We note Hamilton filed a supplemental brief on May 1, 2019, focusing on the second and third reasons. We granted leave to file such a brief after Hamilton's original counsel became seriously ill shortly before the case was to be argued and then passed away soon after the case was submitted on the briefs. Despite Hamilton's shift in focus under newly appointed counsel, we address all three reasons for the sake of completeness.
Hamilton, whose nickname was "Blac," points to Thomas's testimony admitting there was another PCP supplier known as "Black" and thus implies Thomas may have been confused about his actual source of PCP. But at trial, Thomas identified Hamilton as the supplier with whom he personally worked, allowing a reasonable jury to conclude Thomas did not confuse his suppliers.
Williams was also the one co-conspirator on whose phone investigators discovered Hamilton's phone number, as Hamilton admits. Although Hamilton tries to downplay this fact by arguing Williams was an unnamed co-conspirator, his second superceding indictment expressly named Williams as a co-conspirator.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Ladronal S. HAMILTON Defendant - Appellant
- Cited By
- 21 cases
- Status
- Published