Possession of a firearm to further drug activity — sufficiency of the evidence

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Criminal

Possession of a firearm to further drug activity — sufficiency of the evidence

Where videotape showed the defendant in possession of a toolbox, and the toolbox contained a firearm, the evidence was sufficient to convict the defendant of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug activity.

“The evidence supports a finding that Nicholas actually possessed the gun found in the truck’s toolbox. As previously mentioned, the video showed Nicholas standing by the toolbox when it was opened and closed both before and after the drug deal, and a gun was found inside the toolbox when the brothers were stopped a few minutes after leaving Denny’s home. His brother Constantino already had one gun on his waistband, so it is hard to understand why he would need another and plausible for the jury to believe, based on this evidence, that it was Nicholas who carried that second gun into Denny’s house.”

Affirmed.

12-3896 & 13-1034 U.S. v. Cejas

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Magnus-Stinson, J., Williams, J.