United States v. Bailey

The defendants ran an Atlantic City heroin trafficking organization. For more than two years, law enforcement documented its crimes. Bailey, Davis, Macon, and Venable were among 34 people charged with drug-trafficking offenses. A jury convicted them of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin within 1,000 feet of a public housing complex, 21 U.S.C. 846, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) & (b)(1)(A), and 21 U.S.C. 860, use or possession of a firearm in furtherance of that drug trafficking offense, 21 U.S.C. 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (ii), (iii) and 18 U.S.C. 2, and use of a communication facility to further a drug conspiracy, 21 U.S.C. 843(b). Davis was also convicted of possession of a firearm as a felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). The Third Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments that the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions and that the court should have suppressed the government’s wiretapping evidence. While the court violated Federal Rules of Evidence 404(b) and 403 by admitting certain evidence regarding a drug-trafficking-related murder and a drug-trafficking-related assault, given the overwhelming amount of other evidence, the error was harmless. The court also rejected Bailey’s claim that the court erred in admitting evidence of his past convictions for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm. View "United States v. Bailey" on Justia Law