Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

01-2041 U.S. v. Jones

By: dmc-admin//December 31, 2001//

01-2041 U.S. v. Jones

By: dmc-admin//December 31, 2001//

Listen to this article

“[T]here was ample evidence to support the jury’s finding of a single conspiracy. Jones does not dispute the fact that the government provided sufficient evidence to prove a conspiracy for the period ending in May 1999. In fact, in his brief, Jones states that “the evidence adduced at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, established that the defendant participated in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine through May 1999.” However, according to Jones, the only evidence of a conspiracy from June 1999 through January 2000 derives from Tonya Gephardt’s testimony, which the district court improperly admitted over Jones’s objection. Jones notes that by June 1999 Jonathan Norris, Denver Wheeler and Gabriel Folks either were incarcerated or had agreed to cooperate with the government. As a result, Jones claims that all of his co-conspirators necessarily withdrew from the conspiracy by the end of 1999.

“Jones bases his assertion on the incorrect premise that Norris, Wheeler and Folks were the only co-conspirators involved in Jones’s scheme. The indictment against Jones specified only that he conspired with ‘others’ to distribute crack cocaine, which certainly does not mean that the conspiracy could not involve individuals other than Norris, Wheeler and Folks. Indeed, the evidence at trial proved that Huey Whitley, Casey Jones and McCall Cleveland participated in the conspiracy as well. So, too, did Tonya Gephardt, who traveled with Jones to Chicago, hid crack cocaine in her vagina on the return trip, and accompanied Jones while he sold crack in Springfield.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Scott, J., Flaum, J.

Polls

Should Steven Avery be granted a new evidentiary hearing?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Legal News

See All Legal News

WLJ People

Sea all WLJ People

Opinion Digests