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. View Menu. See United States v. White, 406 F.3d 827, 835 (7th Cir.2005); United States v. Castillo, 406 F.3d 806, 823-24 (7th Cir.2005). In a nine count superseding indictment issued on May 15, 2002, the grand jury charged both Hankton and Davis with participating in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute in excess of 500 grams of cocaine and in excess of 50 grams of [crack cocaine] (Count I) and using communication devices in committing the conspiracy (Count VII) in violation of 21 U.S.C. 10. 28: "There will be no getting hi or drinking on the line. The Mickey Cobras are a lairge street gang affiliatit wi the naitionwide gang affiliation kent as the People Nation. 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. The authors have spent decades investigating gangs as well as researching their history and activities, and . 28. of crack every four or five days over a period of five months). In addition, Hankton was charged with four separate counts of distribution of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Hankton was subsequently sentenced to a term of 300 months in prison, while Davis was sentenced to 210 months. Sign in and out each day. As recounted above, Olden testified that for a period of five months (between June and October of 2000) Hankton personally supplied him with individual distribution amounts of crack cocaine-ranging in quantity from one eighth of an ounce to one ounce-every three to four days. 3B1.1(b). In order to corroborate Agent Darin's testimony, the prosecution called one of Hankton's co-defendants, Jammah Olden. As Charles explained, Hankton held the position of don or foreman of the MCs at the Cabrini-Green housing project where Williams lived, and had the authority to order a violation of this kind. Authorities said the charges marked the first time the gang has been targeted in a major federal prosecution. . In the microwave, like I always do. Still a third drug conversation portrays Davis mentioning the purchase of approximately four and a half ounces of cocaine. 26. This evidence was fully corroborated by the testimony of Agent Darin, which the sentencing judge expressly found to be credible. See, e.g., United States v. Von Loh, 417 F.3d 710, 712 (7th Cir.2005). In the last two decades, authorities said, they have confiscated typewritten gang bylaws and constitutions, rules for drug dealing, charts of gang hierarchy and a how-to guide for drive-by shootings. Olden's understanding was that, during that period of time, Hankton was the King or leader of the MCs on the North-Side of Chicago.18 Specifically highlighting Hankton's leadership role, Olden went on to describe an instance where Hankton had ordered Olden and other members of the MCs not to run, but to stand and fight when they became involved in an altercation with members of a rival gang, the Gangster Disciples, over drug peddling territory. Thus, because Agent Darin's credible testimony corroborated the information contained in the co-defendants' plea agreements, the sentencing court did not err in finding that evidence reliable in concluding that Davis was responsible for possessing with the intent to distribute 50 to 150 grams of crack cocaine.27, B.Hankton's Leadership Role in the Offense. http://www. 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. 364, 54 L.Ed.2d 376 (1977). One memo from "the chairman and the board of directors" and dated July 23, 1983, addresses an important gang edict: Don't talk to law enforcement interrogators. 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. Hankton's claim of impermissible double counting finds no support in the record, much less the voluminous amount of case law on this subject. The indictment also alleged that the defendants participated in various other drug-related crimes arising out of their membership in, and affiliation with, the "Mickey Cobras" ("MCs") street gang, which operated on the north-side of Chicago, Illinois during the 1980s and 1990s. Introduced were the plea agreements of Davis, Woodrow Green, Jammah Olden, Rasuah Brunner, Ngaya Brunner, Timeka Murdock and Mekeba Gates. See, e.g., United States v. Morales, 994 F.2d 386, 388 (7th Cir.1993) (holding that [i]t is enough that more than one person was involved in the criminal activity and that the defendant played a leadership as distinct from a followership role) (citing United States v. Herrera, 878 F.2d 997 (7th Cir.1989)). 2 Specifically, Hankton argues that: (a) statements made by government witnesses at sentencing constituted unreliable hearsay and should not have been considered; and Hankton and Davis argue that (b) the introduction of plea agreements signed by co-defendants in the case also qualified as unreliable hearsay evidence and likewise should not have been considered. 2. Also, the district court did not rely solely on witness testimony concluding that Hankton was responsible for distributing more than 500 grams of crack. Federal authorities dealt a blow Thursday to the Mickey Cobras street gang, charging 19 of its leaders and members with narcotics conspiracy and also indicting a top leader on charges he passed along orders to have a woman killed six years ago. While in the gang, he achieved the rank of a 'prince.' He identified defendant in court as someone he had known for 20 years. 2D1.1(a)(4). 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. The Spanish Cobras is a primarily, but not exclusively, . Based on his understanding of the inner-workings of the MCs, Charles stated that on April 12, 2004, Williams had been issued a severe beating or violation as the MCs called it, for allegedly stealing approximately $3,000 from the gang. The gang, called the Mickey Cobras, also sold crack cocaine, marijuana and the potentially lethal prescription painkiller fentanyl, according to authorities. Brandon said the Mickey Cobras' rules "is just some attempt by the hierarchy to keep some sort of order. 3661. Staff writer George Papajohn contributed to this article. However, even if the judge had taken into account Hankton's leadership role when determining the quantity of drugs attributing attributable to him, this would not have been improper because, as explained above, although there may have been some overlap in the factual predicate for both enhancements, each enhancement addressed distinct aspects of the defendant's conduct. Schmeilski, 408 F.3d at 919. They get lunch breaks, set time for shifts, are not supposed to socialize.". metric-conversions.org/. The disparate nature of behavior addressed under each enhancement, without more, suggests that impermissible double counting pursuant to those particular enhancements would be most unlikely. 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.. See Salinas, 62 F.3d at 859. The rules, chock-full of mispellings and street slang, aren't contained in a tidy corporate packet or posted on a store bulletin board. Following Agent Darin's testimony, the government introduced Davis' plea agreement as well as the plea agreements of the other co-defendants. 6. Finally, over objection from defense counsel, the government introduced the plea agreements of seven of Hankton's co-defendants.19 In the plea agreements, which were signed and approved by each of the co-defendants and received into evidence at sentencing, the co-defendants describe receiving primarily crack cocaine from Hankton. Heroin laced with fentanyl has been. See, e.g., United States v. Sutton, 406 F.3d 472, 474 (7th Cir.2005). Agent Darin, a member of the FBI's joint gang task force and a trained drug traffic investigation agent, testified concerning Hankton's coordination of the drug trade for the MCs as well as his role as King or leader of the gang throughout the city in 2000 and 2001. As Olden explained, Hankton would supply him with crack-essentially on credit-and then collect the proceeds from the sale of the crack from him at a later time. It was allot of Cobra Stones but once Mickey died some stayed Stones,some became Mickey Cobras and some were King Cobras. See supra p. 13. See United States v. Paladino, 401 F.3d 471, 481 (7th Cir.2005). 7-8, when stating that Hankton exercised authority over persons, certainly well more than five or ten. However, Hankton claims that rather than directing its remarks to Mr. Hankton's conduct as it related to the actual offence, i.e., drug distribution, the court dwelled on Mr. Hankton's gang activities. This statement is nothing more than a self-serving red herring. We disagree. 13. Instead, Davis claims only that the introduction of the co-defendants' plea agreements constituted clear error due to the fact that the agreements were inadmissible hearsay. In a superseding indictment dated May 15, 2002, Clarence Hankton, Greg Davis and six other co-conspirators were charged in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. See United States v. Schmeilski, 408 F.3d 917, 920 (7th Cir.2005). 14 for the Mickey Cobras is "There will be no more paying brothers and sisters to do your security. Imo..I think Maniac Cobras don't mess with other Mickey Cobra sets near them and I guess they don't go under the 5 (.. or they don't have structure and plus they only have love for their OWN set than any other sets.. like 051 for example. The memo begins by reminding "all brothers of the struggle" about the story of the duck: "If any of you have ever had the opportunity to go on a hunting trip (in the free world) before being locked up, then you know full well that if the duck had kept his mouth shut, instead of quacking, he wouldn't have given his position away and, naturally, wouldn't have been our dinner.". 2. As such, gang members are forbidden from parking in the basketball court or playground from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. to leave room from customers. 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. According to Olden's testimony, which was unrebutted at sentencing, it was reasonable for the district court to conclude that Hankton personally distributed between 134 and 1071 grams of crack cocaine, to Olden alone, in the space of just these five months.26 See Salinas, 62 F.3d at 859; see also United States v. Durham, 211 F.3d 437, 444 (7th Cir.2000) (stating that estimates of drug quantity are acceptable if they are based on evidence possessing a sufficient indicia of reliability and not nebulous eyeballing). When the amounts of crack cocaine that the co-defendants admitted Hankton distributed to them were tallied, the government estimated that the amount of crack Hankton distributed (as established in the plea agreement documents alone) to be 1166 grams. Knox and gang investigators said lists like the one belonging to the Mickey Cobras are not uncommon among street gangs. 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 evidence presented at sentencing did not separate Hankton's activities into two distinct categories of: (1) gang activities; and (2) drug activities. The district judge mandated that the names of the witnesses be kept confidential, due to the fact that they feared retribution from the gang for their statements. Specifically, investigators learned that both Hankton and Davis held leadership roles in the MCs. 9. See United States v. Torres-Ramirez, 213 F.3d 978, 980-81 (7th Cir.2000) Under circumstances such as these we are unwilling to find fault with the sentencing judge's decision to credit Darin's statement in determining the drug quantity attributable to Hankton. In October 1999, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began investigating the MCs, utilizing confidential informants,4 FBI surveillance and pen registers to gain information on the organization.5 Information gathered in the initial operational phase of the investigation allowed law enforcement officers to gain a preliminary understanding of the gang's structure. Copyright 2023, Thomson Reuters. During the investigation, the FBI temporarily used a member of the MCs to serve as a cooperating witness. In accordance with Rule 11(c)(1)(C) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure Hankton pled guilty to three counts of distribution of crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 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. 3B1.1(a). "It's a fallacy that they put on paper that you have to be 16 on the line. [1] What's more, the evidence submitted at sentencing was internally consistent with the totality of the evidence in the record and various aspects of that evidence corroborated other aspects. Control means access to the profits from the drug trade. Find something similiar nearby. Nonetheless, Hankton argues that the sentencing judge's mention of his leadership role in the organization while finding that he was also eligible for a sentence enhancement for distributing more than 500 grams of cocaine under 2D1.1 constituted impermissible double counting. Id. 2D1.1 and 3B1.1 to his sentence constituted improper double counting. Rule No. They don't want the heat. 2D1.1. As part of the plea agreement, Hankton admitted that on three separate occasions in Cook County, Illinois, between February and April 2000, he distributed a total of approximately 156 grams of crack to an individual who, unbeknownst to him, was a confidential informant recruited by the FBI.
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