Jury Instructions-Drug Conspiracy

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Royel Page

Case No.: 21-3221

Officials: Rovner, Jackson-Akiwumi, and Lee, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Jury Instructions-Drug Conspiracy

A 34-count indictment was issued by a grand jury against 12 defendants implicated in the sale of heroin. Defendant Page faced charges in just two counts, unrelated to conspiracy. Building their case on wiretap investigations and a search of Page’s apartment, among other evidence, prosecutors alleged that Hamlin procured heroin from Harris and then distributed these drugs to alleged mid-level distributors like Page. Fast forward two years, and a revised indictment brought charges against Page, Harris, Hamlin, and others, alleging their involvement in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that encompassed more than 100 grams of heroin. Page was specifically accused of 12 counts related to the attempted distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin.

Page was the sole defendant who refrained from pleading guilty. The jury instructions included the Seventh Circuit’s standard guidance on “Membership in Conspiracy.” Page’s legal representation did not propose a jury instruction that would have highlighted the distinction between a drug conspiracy and a typical buyer-seller relationship. Despite being convicted on all counts, Page was handed a 90-month sentence below the recommended guidelines. The Seventh Circuit later overturns this decision, dismissing the challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, yet asserting that the district court had made a clear error by failing to instruct the jury about the disparity between a buyer-seller relationship and a conspiracy.

Page’s perspective emphasizes that his affiliation with the main drug dealer was a simple buyer-seller relationship, rather than a conspiracy where both parties jointly aimed to establish a drug enterprise.

Reversed and remanded

Decided 08/04/23

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