Sufficiency of Evidence – Motion for Acquittal Denied

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Tracy Conley

Case No.: 15-3442

Officials: MANION, ROVNER, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges

Focus: Sufficiency of Evidence – Motion for Acquittal Denied

Tracy Conley was ensnared in a now familiar government set up in which a government actor, pretending to be a criminal, presents the defendant with an opportunity to be part of a robbery of an illegal drug stash house. The stash house is fictional, of course, and so the government decides which and what quantity of drugs it will have (in this case, fifty kilograms of cocaine) and how high or low the barriers to the crime will be (in this case it was allegedly protected only by two armed and one unarmed guards). Conley took the bait and ended up with a sentence of 180 months’ imprisonment on drug distribution and weapons charges. He moved the district court for acquittal or a new trial and when that was denied, appealed the decision to this court. We affirm.

Conley argues that the government failed to meet its burden of establishing sufficient evidence to support his conviction on the conspiracy charges and thus the district court erred by denying his post-trial motion for acquittal. To sustain a conviction for conspiracy under 21 U.S.C. § 846, the government had to prove the existence of a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and that Conley knowingly or intentionally became part of the agreement. United States v. Salinas, 763 F.3d 869, 877 (7th Cir. 2014); United States v. Mire, 725 F.3d 665, 678 (7th Cir. 2013). Similarly, to sustain a conviction for attempt, the government had to prove that Conley intended to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute it and knowingly took a substantial step toward that goal. United States v. Fiedeke, 384 F.3d 407, 411–12 (7th Cir. 2004).

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.