United States v. Jones (913 F.2d 1552, 1990)

MORGAN, Senior Circuit Judge:

Defendants appeal their convictions for conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 846, and for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2. We affirm.

INTRODUCTION

On October 3, 1987, David Sanford Jones was arrested following a search of his residence in which 670 grams of cocaine were discovered. David Jones agreed to cooperate with the government and told of various cocaine transactions in which he had been involved. Among the people he identified were the appellants in this case. David Jones later helped police obtain recorded telephone conversations with appellants Cavaliere and Jones, among others.

Each of the appellants was charged with one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute. Additionally, Michael Cavaliere, Anthony Keith Jones and Bonnie Russell were each charged with one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. David Michael Minyard was charged with six counts of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

At trial in the Northern District of Florida, David Jones was the principal witness for the government. Jones testified that, between November 1985 and October 1987, he supplied Michael Cavaliere, Anthony Keith Jones and Michael Minyard with cocaine he obtained from his suppliers in south Florida. Bonnie' Russell served as his driver on some of the trips between Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina. Nancy Parker and Mylan Daugherty, who had also helped Jones by driving for him, testified for the government and substantially corroborated much of Jones’s testimony, as did Nelson Izquierdo, who, along with Miguel Perez, had been the source of the drugs Jones and the others distributed.

The jury convicted each of the defendants on the conspiracy and possession counts as charged. All defendants appeal their convictions. Each contends that the evidence at trial was not sufficient to sustain the verdicts and each asserts an assortment of other issues as well.

DISCUSSION

I. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

All of the defendants below argue that the evidence was insufficient to support their convictions. This Court cannot reverse a conviction for insufficiency of the evidence unless after reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, we conclude that no reasonable jury could find proof beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Bennett, 848 F.2d 1134, 1138 (11th Cir.1988).

To support a conviction for conspiracy, the government must prove only that two or more persons agreed to commit a crime, that the defendant knew of the conspiratorial goal, and that he voluntarily participated in helping to accomplish that goal. United States v. Lee, 695 F.2d 515, 518 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 839, 104 S.Ct. 130, 78 L.Ed.2d 125 (1983). The existence of su