Full opinion text
Affirmed in part and dismissed in part by published opinion. Judge WILLIAMS wrote the majority opinion, in which Chief Judge WILKINSON and Judges RUSSELL, WIDENER, WILKINS, NIEMEYER, HAMILTON, and LUTTIG joined. Judge MICHAEL wrote an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which Judges HALL, MURNAGHAN, ERVIN, and MOTZ joined. OPINION WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge: In these consolidated appeals, Frank Bur-gos and Alexio Gobern appeal their convictions for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846 (West 1981 & Supp.1996), contending that the evidence was insufficient to sustain their convictions. Additionally, Burgos appeals his conviction for possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and aiding and abetting that crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 2 (West 1969) and 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(a)(1), again challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction. Gobern also appeals his sentence on two grounds. First, he asserts that the district court erred in failing to depart downward based on an isolated act of aberrant behavior, pursuant to United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual, Chapter 1, Part A, 4(d) (1992). Second, describing himself as a “person of color,” Gobern posits that his sentence violates the Equal Protection Clause because offenses involving cocaine base are more severely punished than offenses involving cocaine powder, and since “persons of color” are more frequently convicted of cocaine base offenses, they are disproportionately punished. We consolidated Burgos’s and Gobern’s appeals and elected to hear them en banc. We take this opportunity to clarify the law of this circuit respecting challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence in connection with conspiracy convictions, and in so doing, we affirm the convictions of Burgos and Gobern. In affirming the convictions, we honor two bedrock principles of Anglo-American jurisprudence: the Government must prove each element of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, and the jury determines whether the Government has satisfied this evidentiary burden. Our review is limited to determining whether substantial evidence supports the conviction. In addressing Gobern’s challenges to his sentence, we also honor entrenched principles of this court’s jurisprudence: a deliberate refusal by the district court to depart downward is not appealable; and sentencing disparities between offenses involving cocaine base and cocaine powder do not deny equal protection of the law. Thus, respecting Go-bern’s appeal from his sentence, we dismiss in part and affirm in part. First, we shall recite the facts adduced at the separate trials of Burgos and Gobern. Second, we shall address Burgos’s and Go-bern’s conspiracy convictions and whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain them. Third, we shall address Burgos’s challenge to his possession and aiding and abetting conviction and whether the evidence was sufficient to support it. Finally, we shall address Gobern’s challenges to his sentence. I. Taken in the light most favorable to the Government, see Evans v. United States, 504 U.S. 255, 257, 112 S.Ct. 1881, 1883-84, 119 L.Ed.2d 57 (1992), the evidence adduced at Burgos’s trial established the following facts. On January 25, 1993, law enforcement officers Berkley Blanks and Daniel Kaplan were performing narcotics interdiction at the train station in Greensboro, North Carolina, focusing on a train arriving from New York, New York, a known source city for contraband narcotics. Officers Blanks and Kaplan observed Burgos, Gobern, and Anthony Gonzales disembark together from the train, but walk separately into the terminal. Officer Blanks testified that he initiated a conversation with Gonzales, who informed Officer Blanks he was traveling alone from New York, denied familiarity with Gobern, and presented a train ticket bearing the name “Anthony Flores.” Officer Kaplan testified that he spoke with Burgos, who produced a train ticket bearing his own name. According to Officer Blanks, Gobern carried a knapsack and a package wrapped in Christmas paper but which bore no ribbon, bow, or card; also, Gobern carefully observed Officer Blanks’s conversation with Gonzales. As Officer Blanks and Gonzales walked to the front of the terminal, Gobern followed them, continued to observe them, halted when Officer Blanks and Gonzales halted, and with the Christmas package and knapsack, proceeded into the terminal lavatory, where he remained one to two minutes; this lavatory was small, measuring 9.5 feet square. Gobern then exited the lavatory without the Christmas package, but still carrying the knapsack. Officers Blanks and Kaplan testified unequivocally that no one else entered, occupied, or exited the lavatory while Gobern occupied it. On exiting the lavatory, Gobern, at Officer Kaplan’s request, produced his train ticket, which, like Gonzales’s ticket, bore the name “Anthony Flores,” stated that he was traveling alone from New York, and denied that he and Gonzales knew each other. Interestingly, Gonzales’s and Gobern’s train tickets bore consecutive numbers, were purchased simultaneously at the same locale, and were both round-trip tickets from New York, New York, to Greensboro, North Carolina, issued on January 25, 1993, with a return date of January 27,1993. After concluding their conversation with Gobern, Officers Blanks and Kaplan proceeded immediately to the lavatory just exited by Gobern while Officer Cameron Piner, who had recently arrived at the train terminal, watched Burgos, Gobern, and Gonzales. On the sink, Officers Blanks and Kaplan found the Christmas package and a cereal box, both of which were ripped open, and crumpled newsprint dated January 9, 1993 from The Daily News, a New York newspaper. Pages from the same edition of The Daily News were found on the floor and in the wastebasket of the lavatory. Also in the wastebasket were pieces of the Christmas paper in which the Christmas package had been wrapped, as well as remnants of the package itself. Secreted behind the commode was a mass of wadded newsprint, which concealed aluminum foil, which, in turn, concealed a plastic bag containing 78.5 grams of cocaine base, an amount which Officers Blanks and Kaplan testified was a distribution quantity. Significantly, the newspaper concealing the foil and plastic bag was from the same edition of The Daily News that was on the sink, scattered around the floor, and in the wastebasket. Not only was this wadded mass of newsprint from The Daily News, but it complemented and completed perfectly the newspaper edition found near the sink. Officers Blanks and Kaplan exited the lavatory, and Officer Blanks observed Burgos, Gobern, and Gonzales attempt to board the same taxicab. Before they could depart, Gobern was arrested, and Burgos and Gonzales agreed to accompany Officers Blanks and Kaplan for questioning. Burgos was then questioned by Special Agent Wayne Kowalski of the Drug Enforcement Agency. At Burgos’s trial, Special Agent Kowalski testified that Burgos stated: (1) he knew Gonzales, but not Gobern; (2) he conversed with Gonzales and Gobern on the train; (3) he knew that cocaine base was in the Christmas package, which Gobern possessed since leaving New York; and (4) he knew that the cocaine base was to be distributed at a college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Specifically, Special Agent Kowalski avowed that Burgos admitted that “Gobern ... carried the package wrapped as a Christmas package ... throughout the trip down.” (J.A. at 67.) (emphasis added). Moreover, “Burgos ... knew that they had dope_ [I]t was his understanding they were going to sell the dope at the A & T University.” (J.A. at 67.) Dispelling any doubt that Burgos knew that the plastic bag containing the cocaine base was in the Christmas package since the trio left New York, Special Agent Kowalski testified that he asked Burgos “whether he knew that there was crack cocaine in the package” and Burgos “said that he knew they had it, but he didn’t see it.” (J.A. at 66-67.) Additionally, Special Agent Kowalski testified that Burgos stated that he was in Greensboro visiting a friend, but did not mention traveling to Laurinburg, North Carolina, to play basketball with his former schoolmates, as Burgos testified at trial; indeed, the train on which the men traveled did not stop at Laurinburg. Also introduced at Burgos’s trial was forensic evidence revealing that Go-bern’s fingerprints were on the Christmas wrapping paper, and that Burgos’s fingerprint was impressed on the sealing mechanism at the top of the plastic bag which contained the cocaine base, although forensic analysis did not establish when Burgos’s fingerprint was impressed on the plastic bag. Burgos’s testimony differed dramatically from Special Agent Kowalski’s. Burgos testified that while purchasing his train ticket, Gonzales, whom Burgos knew only by the alias “Tone,” requested that Burgos purchase two train tickets for him and gave Burgos a piece of paper with a reservation number and the name “Flores” written on it. Burgos and Gonzales also exchanged telephone numbers. Burgos purchased three round-trip train tickets: One for himself in his own name and the other two for Gonzales in the name of “Anthony Flores,” the two for Gonzales each having a two-day stay in Greensboro and returning to New York City on January 27, 1993. Burgos testified further that Gonzales was alone when he solicited Burgos to purchase his train tickets. According to Burgos, he then boarded the train by himself. While on board, he was approached by Gonzales, Gobern, whom Burgos denied knowing, and two women, who have remained nameless and faceless, all of whom sat behind Burgos. Testifying further, Burgos stated that he carried with him on the train sandwiches, cookies, and potato chips, all of which were wrapped in plastic bags similar to the plastic bag bearing his fingerprint in which the cocaine base was found. Burgos, however, did not consume all of the food he brought, but rather shared it with Gonzales, Gobern, and the women. Specifically, he gave sandwiches, still encased in the plastic bags, to Gonzales and Gobern and gave the cookies to the women. Moreover, Burgos avowed that he had no discussions with Gonzales and Gobern concerning narcotics while on the train. Regarding his intentions in North Carolina, Burgos testified that after visiting friends for one day in Greensboro, he intended to play basketball with former schoolmates in Lau-rinburg. With respect to the Christmas package, Burgos testified that Gobern carried no such Christmas package, yet on cross-examination he testified that Gobern wrapped no packages on the train nor did Gobern possess any implements used to wrap packages, such as paper, tape, or scissors. Likewise, on cross-examination, Burgos could offer no explanation for his fingerprint on the plastic bag containing the cocaine base, nor could Burgos explain the glaring, direct contradictions between his testimony and that of Special Agent Kowalski. Other testimony in Burgos’s trial was in a like vein, namely that Burgos’s testimony diverged markedly from that of law enforcement agents. For instance, Burgos initially testified that he preceded Gobern in exiting the train, but then recanted and stated that Gobern disembarked before him. Burgos also testified that Officer Blanks cursed and brandished a firearm at him, but Officer Blanks denied even speaking to Burgos, let alone using profanity or displaying a firearm. Additionally, Burgos avowed that he appeared at arraignment without counsel, but subsequently repudiated this statement and testified that counsel was indeed present with him at arraignment. The record is rife with examples of Burgos’s vague, equivocal, and contradictory responses. Burgos was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. §§ 841(a)(1), 846, possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 2 and 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(a)(1), and aiding and abetting, and sentenced to 131 months imprisonment. Burgos appeals his convictions, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, but he does not appeal his sentence. II. We now consider the evidence adduced at Gobern’s trial. Although Gobern was tried and convicted prior to Burgos’s arraignment, the evidence adduced at Gobern’s trial was substantially similar to the evidence adduced at Burgos’s later trial, but differed in some respects. For example, Special Agent Kow-alski did not testify at Gobern’s trial that Burgos stated he knew Gonzales, Burgos traveled with Gobern and Gonzales aboard the train, Gobern carried the Christmas package from New York City, and Burgos knew that cocaine base, slated for distribution in Greensboro, was in the package. Also at Gobern’s trial, there was no evidence respecting when Burgos’s fingerprint was impressed on the plastic bag, and Burgos did not testify at Gobern’s trial that he brought food with him on the train trip from New York City. At Gobern’s trial, Officers Blanks and Kap-lan testified that, in connection with performing their duty of narcotics interdiction at the Greensboro train station, they witnessed Burgos, Gobern, and Gonzales disembark in tandem from a train arriving from New York City, a known source city for contraband narcotics, and enter the terminal separately. Officer Blanks testified that he approached Gonzales, who identified himself as “Anthony Gonzales,” but produced a train ticket bearing the name “Anthony Flores.” While Officer Blanks was questioning Gonzales, Officer Kaplan questioned Burgos. According to Officers Blanks and Kaplan, Gobern surveyed Officer Blanks’s conversation with Gonzales with interest. Also, Officers Blanks and Kaplan testified that as they accompanied Burgos and Gonzales to the terminal, they occasionally discontinued walking and stopped to talk to Burgos and Gonzales, and Gobern simultaneously discontinued and resumed walking. Officers Blanks and Kaplan also testified that Gobern carried a Christmas package wrapped with red-and-green-striped paper and a knapsack. Testifying further, Officers Blanks and Kaplan related that Gobern proceeded directly into the small lavatory at the train station with the Christmas package and the knapsack, but that on exiting the lavatory, Gobern conspicuously was not carrying the Christmas package. As Gobern exited the lavatory, Officer Blanks requested that Gobern produce his train ticket, which also bore the name “Anthony Flores.” According to Officer Kaplan, Gonzales’s and Gobern’s tickets were sequentially numbered, purchased at the same locale on the same date, and had identical destinations and durations, namely that the tickets were purchased in New York, were for a two-day trip arriving in Greensboro on January 25, 1993 and returning to New York City on January 27, 1993. Officer Blanks avowed that Gobern informed him that he was traveling alone and denied knowing Gonzales. While speaking with Officers Blanks and Kaplan, Gobern exhibited nervous behavior; for instance, his hands shook and he avoided eye contact. On inspecting the lavatory after conversing with Gobern, Officers Blanks and Kaplan found the cleaved Christmas package and a torn cereal box on the sink. Used as packing material in connection with the Christmas package and cereal box were pages of The Daily News, a New York newspaper. Pages from the same edition of The Daily News were in the cereal box, the wastebasket, and littered about the ripped Christmas package. As Officers Blanks and Kaplan inspected the lavatory further, behind the commode they found a plastic bag containing 78.5 grams of cocaine base that was concealed in aluminum foil, which was surrounded by wadded pages from the same edition of The Daily News as that found elsewhere. Gobern’s fingerprints were recovered from the red-and-green-striped wrapping paper on the Christmas package, and Burgos’s fingerprint was recovered from the plastic bag containing the 78.5 grams of cocaine. Special Agent Kowalski testified that forensic analysis proved that Burgos’s fingerprint was on the plastic bag. Officers Blanks and Kaplan were adamant that no one else entered, occupied, or departed the lavatory while Gobern was in it. Officer Blanks stated that, on exiting the lavatory, he witnessed Burgos, Gobern, and Gonzales attempt to board the same taxicab. Gobern was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base. Violations of § 841(a)(1) involving more than fifty grams of cocaine base provide for a statutory mandatory minimum prison sentence of ten years. See 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(b)(1)(A) (West Supp.1995). Under the Sentencing Guidelines, Gobern’s total offense level of thirty-two, combined with a criminal history category of one, resulted in a guideline range of 121 to 151 months imprisonment, with his convictions consolidated for purposes of entry of judgment. The district court sentenced Gobern to 121 months imprisonment. Gobern appeals his conspiracy conviction and his sentence. Regarding his conviction, Gobern asserts that the evidence was insufficient to support it. With respect to his sentence, Gobern raises two challenges. First, he posits that the district court erred in failing to depart downward based on aberrant behavior. The gravamen of his position is that Gobern had no prior involvement with drug trafficking offenses and his involvement in the crimes for which he was convicted was an anomaly not in keeping with his character. Second, although he failed to raise the issue in the district court, Gobern, who describes himself as a “person of color,” maintains on appeal that the statutory mandatory minimum sentence under 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(b)(1)(A) (West Supp.1995) violates the Equal Protection Clause. According to Go-bern, meting out greater punishments for offenses involving cocaine base than for offenses involving equal amounts of cocaine powder denies “persons of color” equal protection of the law because they are more frequently convicted of offenses involving cocaine base, while Caucasians are more frequently convicted of violations involving cocaine powder. III. Burgos and Gobern challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support their conspiracy convictions. Construing all of the evidence and the inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the Government, we conclude that a rational jury could find that the evidence was sufficient to sustain their conspiracy convictions. A. 1. To prove conspiracy to possess cocaine base with intent to distribute, the Government must establish that: (1) an agreement to possess cocaine with intent to distribute existed between two or more persons; (2) the defendant knew of the conspiracy; and (3) the defendant knowingly and voluntarily became a part of this conspiracy. See United States v. Collazo, 732 F.2d 1200, 1205 (4th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1105, 105 S.Ct. 777, 83 L.Ed.2d 773 (1985). In United States v. Laughman, 618 F.2d 1067, 1074 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 447 U.S. 925, 100 S.Ct. 3018, 65 L.Ed.2d 1117 (1980), we explained that the “gravamen of the crime of conspiracy is an agreement to effectuate a criminal act.” By its very nature, a conspiracy is clandestine and covert, thereby frequently resulting in little direct evidence of such an agreement. See Blumenthal v. United States, 332 U.S. 539, 557, 68 S.Ct. 248, 256-57, 92 L.Ed. 154 (1947); United States v. Wilson, 721 F.2d 967, 973 (4th Cir.1983). Hence, a conspiracy generally is proved by circumstantial evidence and the context in which the circumstantial evidence is adduced. See Iannelli v. United States, 420 U.S. 770, 777 n. 10, 95 S.Ct. 1284, 1289 n. 10, 43 L.Ed.2d 616 (1975); United States v. Dozie, 27 F.3d 95, 97 (4th Cir.1994) (per curiam); United States v. An drews, 953 F.2d 1312, 1318 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 505 U.S. 1210, 112 S.Ct. 3007, 3008, 120 L.Ed.2d 882 (1992). Indeed, a conspiracy may be proved wholly by circumstantial evidence. See Iannelli, 420 U.S. at 777 n. 10, 95 S.Ct. at 1289 n. 10; United States v. Durrive, 902 F.2d 1221, 1229 (7th Cir.1990); Laughman, 618 F.2d at 1074. Circumstantial evidence tending to prove a conspiracy may consist of a defendant’s “relationship with other members of the conspiracy, the length of this association, [the defendant’s] attitude [and] conduct, and the nature of the conspiracy.” Collazo, 732 F.2d at 1205. A conspiracy, therefore, “may be inferred from a ‘development and collocation of circumstances’.” Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 469, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942) (quoting United States v. Manton, 107 F.2d 834, 839 (2d Cir.1939), cert. denied, 309 U.S. 664, 60 S.Ct. 590, 84 L.Ed. 1012 (1940)). Circumstantial evidence sufficient to support a conspiracy conviction need not exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence, provided the summation of the evidence permits a conclusion of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See Holland v. United States, 348 U.S. 121, 139-40, 75 S.Ct. 127, 137-38, 99 L.Ed. 150 (1954). While circumstantial evidence may sufficiently support a conspiracy conviction, the Government nevertheless must establish proof of each element of a conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt. See Glasser, 315 U.S. at 80, 62 S.Ct. at 469. To require less of the Government would eviscerate its burden to prove all elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt and relieve it of its burden of vigilance in prosecuting crimes — thereby violating bedrock principles of our Anglo-American jurisprudence. See In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970). The preceding precepts demonstrate that a conspiracy can have an elusive quality and that a defendant may be convicted of conspiracy with little or no knowledge of the entire breadth of the criminal enterprise: It is of course elementary that one may be a member of a conspiracy without knowing its full scope, or all its members, and without taking part in the full range of its activities or over the whole period of its existence. Critically, it is not necessary to proof of a conspiracy that it have a discrete, identifiable organizational structure; the requisite agreement to act in concert need not result in any such formal structure[.] [I]ndeed[,] ... contemporary drug conspiracies [can] contemplate[ ] ... only a loosely-knit association of members linked only by their mutual interest in sustaining the overall enterprise of catering to the ultimate demands of a particular drug consumption market.... United States v. Banks, 10 F.3d 1044, 1054 (4th Cir.1993), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 1850, 128 L.Ed.2d 475 (1994). Thus, while many conspiracies are executed with precision, the fact that a conspiracy is loosely-knit, haphazard, or ill-conceived does not render it any less a conspiracy — or any less unlawful. Of course, in addition to proving the existence of a conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt, the Government must also prove a defendant’s connection to the conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt. To satisfy that burden, the Government need not prove that the defendant knew the particulars of the conspiracy or all of his eoeonspirators. See Blumenthal, 332 U.S. at 557, 68 S.Ct. at 256-57; United States v. Brooks, 957 F.2d 1138, 1147 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 505 U.S. 1228, 112 S.Ct. 3051, 120 L.Ed.2d 917 (1992). Indeed, a defendant properly may be convicted of conspiracy without full knowledge of all of [the conspiracy’s] details, but if he joins the conspiracy with an understanding of the unlawful nature thereof and willfully joins in the plan on one occasion, it is sufficient to convict him of conspiracy, even though he had not participated before and even though he played only a minor part. United States v. Roberts, 881 F.2d 95, 101 (4th Cir.1989); see also United States v. Mezzanatto, — U.S. -, -, 115 S.Ct. 797, 805, 130 L.Ed.2d 697 (1995) (recognizing that there are “big fish” and “small fish” in conspiracies). Like the conspirators’ agreement, a defendant’s participation in the conspiracy “need not be explicit; it may be inferred from circumstantial evidence.” United States v. Prince, 883 F.2d 953, 957 (11th Cir.1989). In addition to selling narcotics, that participation may assume a myriad of other forms, such as supplying firearms or purchasing money orders for coconspira-tors or permitting them to store narcotics and other contraband in one’s home, see United States v. James, 40 F.3d 850, 873 (7th Cir.1994), modified on remand on other grounds, 79 F.3d 553 (7th Cir.1996); or purchasing plane tickets for coconspirators, see United States v. Sanchez, 961 F.2d 1169, 1178 (5th Cir.), cert. denied 506 U.S. 918, 113 S.Ct. 330, 121 L.Ed.2d 248 (1992). Thus, a variety of conduct, apart from selling narcotics, can constitute participation in a conspiracy sufficient to sustain a conviction. Regrettably, some of our jurisprudence can be read as lacking uniform application with respect to principles of conspiracy law. For instance, United States v. Giunta, 925 F.2d 758 (4th Cir.1991), may be read as demanding a heightened degree of review regarding sufficiency challenges to conspiracy convictions. Giunta, like the dissent, premised its reasoning on Justice Jackson’s concurring opinion in Krulewitch v. United States, 336 U.S. 440, 69 S.Ct. 716, 93 L.Ed. 790 (1949), in which a single justice expressed reserve that perhaps the Government indicted for conspiracy rather than the substantive offense because securing a conspiracy conviction was putatively easier. See Giunta, 925 F.2d at 765. In expounding on Justice Jackson’s reservation, the Giunta court observed that a conspiracy charge was a “ ‘potent and oft-used weapon in the prosecutorial arsenal,’ particularly in connection with the drug trafficking prosecutions that increasingly dominate federal criminal dockets.” Giunta, 925 F.2d at 766 (quoting United States v. Caro, 569 F.2d 411, 418 (5th Cir.1978) (Goldberg, J.)). In this connection, Giunta suggested that affirming a conspiracy conviction could act as an obfuscation lending credence to “ ‘slippery facts and the speculations necessary to uphold [the conspiracy] conviction.’ ” id. (quoting Caro, 569 F.2d at 418) (alteration in original), often resulting in “special risks of unfairness,” id. Given Giunta ’s skepticism regarding conspiracy, the court announced that “[hjeightened vigilance to guard against the increased risks of speculation, though not a heightened standard, is warranted in conspiracy prosecutions.” Id. Given this “heightened vigilance,” Giunta focused its review not on the circumstantial evidence tending to prove a conspiracy, but rather on the “specific weaknesses” in the evidentiary picture. Id. In reversing Giun-ta’s convictions, the court concluded that the Government’s case failed for want of “evidence about conduct independent” of the circumstantial evidence surrounding the criminal activity. Id. at 765. Giunta’s unilateral pronouncements, especially its application of “heightened vigilance” to reverse a conviction, cannot be squared with the aforementioned precepts of conspiracy law. First, we note that Krulewitch was a concurring opinion that reflected the thoughts of a single Justice, whom the Court subsequently described as “no friend of the law of conspiracy,” Iannelli, 420 U.S. at 778, 95 S.Ct. at 1290. Second, we do not share Justice Jackson’s, Giunta’s, or the dissent’s skepticism that conspiracy is a Frankenstein’s monster that has grown out of control. In this respect, Justice Jackson’s, Giunta’s, and the dissent’s dire prognostication that the Government would indict for conspiracy in lieu of the substantive offense has not materialized because the Government typically indicts for both offenses, not exclusively for the conspiracy offense. For example, Burgos was indicted for possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and aiding and abetting, as well as conspiracy with intent to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base. Third, Giunta’s invitation to exercise “heightened vigilance” by focusing on the “specific weaknesses” in the evidence appears at loggerheads with the principles that in reviewing a conspiracy conviction, we accept the facts in the light most favorable to the Government and consider the circumstances and the context in which the circumstantial evidence is adduced, bearing in mind that a conspiracy can be proved wholly by circumstantial evidence. The dissent erroneously contends that Giunta did not create or apply a heightened standard for reviewing conspiracy convictions. See post at 882-85 & n. 3. Rather, it conelusorily asserts in a block quote that Giunta is consistent with conspiracy law. Giunta, however, expressly created the improvident “heightened vigilance” language — the phrase does not appear in our jurisprudence prior to Giunta — and vigorously applied it to reverse Giunta’s conviction. Perpetuating the same error, the dissent candidly substitutes its “ ‘raw judgment call,’ ” see post at 885 n. 4, for the jury’s determination of guilt. An appellate court, however, may not substitute a “ ‘raw judgment call’ ” in reviewing sufficiency challenges; our task is to determine if substantial evidence, viewed most favorably to the Government, supports the conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. Because of Giunta’s substitution of “ ‘a raw judgment call’ ” for the jury’s verdict, reliance on the Krulew-itch concurrence, rather than binding precedent, its reference to “heightened vigilance,” and its focus on “specific weaknesses,” rather than the totality of the circumstances in assessing the evidence, Giunta is not consistent with our conspiracy jurisprudence. Likewise, United States v. Bell, 954 F.2d 232 (4th Cir.1992), cannot be squared with these tenets of conspiracy law. According to Bell, “[a] conspiracy is not shown until the government has presented evidence of a specific agreement to commit a specific crime, for the same criminal purposes, on the part of all indicted conspirators.” Id. at 237-38. While the dissent cites Bell and Giunta for this proposition as “the black letter law of conspiracy,” post at 882, we are not persuaded this proposition represents black letter conspiracy law. Rather, black letter conspiracy law requires the Government to prove: (1) an agreement between two or more persons, which constitutes the act; and (2) an intent thereby to achieve a certain objective which, under the common law definition, is the doing of either an unlawful act or a lawful act by unlawful means. Wayne R. LaFave & Austin W. Scott, Jr., Criminal Law Ch. 6, § 6.4, at 525 (2d ed. 1986). In this regard, “[conspiracy is an inchoate offense, the essence of which is an agreement to commit an unlawful act[, and t]he agreement need not be shown to have been explicit.” Iannelli, 420 U.S. at 777 & n. 10, 95 S.Ct. at 1289-90; see also United States v. Morsley, 64 F.3d 907, 919 (4th Cir.1995) (holding that there need not be evidence of a specific agreement in order to sustain a conspiracy conviction), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 116 S.Ct. 749, 133 L.Ed.2d 697 (1996). Because we believe that these precepts set the proper contours of conspiracy law, setting parameters regarding specificity of the agreement is difficult to harmonize with the elastic, ad hoc principles that shape our conspiracy jurisprudence. Moreover, our precedents have mandated that “[o]nce it has been shown that a conspiracy exists, the evidence need only establish a slight connection between the defendant and the conspiracy to support conviction.” Brooks, 957 F.2d at 1147; see also United States v. Seni, 662 F.2d 277, 285 n. 7 (4th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 950, 102 S.Ct. 1453, 71 L.Ed.2d 664 (1982). We have adhered repeatedly to this principle, explaining that while the existence of the conspiracy and the defendant’s connection to it must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant’s connection to the conspiracy need only be “slight.” See, e.g., United States v. Al-Talib, 55 F.3d 923, 931 (4th Cir.1995); Dozie, 27 F.3d at 97; United States v. Whittington, 26 F.3d 456, 465 (4th Cir.1994); United States v. Chorman, 910 F.2d 102, 109 (4th Cir.1990); Baughman, 618 F.2d at 1076. Requiring that the defendant’s connection to the conspiracy be “slight” in no way alleviates the Government’s burden of proving the existence of the conspiracy and the defendant’s connection to it beyond a reasonable doubt. The term “slight” does not describe the quantum of evidence that the Government must elicit in order to establish the conspiracy, but rather the connection that the defendant maintains with the conspiracy. Requiring a “slight connection” between the defendant and the established conspiracy complements the canons of conspiracy law that a defendant need not know all of his coconspirators, comprehend the reach of the conspiracy, participate in all the enterprises of the conspiracy, or have joined the conspiracy from its inception. Again, regrettably, some of our jurisprudence is confused between the burden of proof the Government must meet to prove the defendant’s connection to the conspiracy and the degree of connection the Government must show to establish the defendant as a member of the conspiracy. For instance, in United States v. Truglio, 731 F.2d 1123, 1133 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 862, 105 S.Ct. 197, 83 L.Ed.2d 130 (1984), we stated that after establishing the existence of the conspiracy, in order to convict the defendant, the Government need only show “slight evidence” connecting the defendant to the conspiracy. This is a misstatement of the law; as we now explain, the Government must prove the existence of the conspiracy and the defendant’s connection to it beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the standard the Supreme Court has employed consistently, see, e.g., Glasser, 315 U.S. at 80, 62 S.Ct. at 469; but a defendant’s connection to the conspiracy merely need be “slight.” Sustaining a conviction based on “slight evidence” is contrary to the Government’s obligation to prove crimes beyond a reasonable doubt. Likewise, Bell can be read as increasing the quantitative connection required to tie a defendant to a conspiracy. While the Bell court concluded that Bell and Cruz were properly convicted of possession with intent to distribute narcotics, see Bell, 954 F.2d at 235, it reversed their conspiracy convictions because “[t]he evidence of the connections” was insufficient to demonstrate a “specific agreement to commit wrongful acts,” id. at 238. In our view, because Bell demanded a specificity requirement, it can be read as implying that a substantial, not slight, connection is necessary to tie a defendant to a conspiracy. We disagree, therefore, with the dissent’s characterization that Bell cannot be construed as confusing the law respecting the slight connection rule, see post at 882, 883, 885-86. Thus, Truglio sustained conspiracy convictions based on “slight evidence,” while Bell can be read as implying that the Government must not only prove the existence of the conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt, but also that the defendant’s connection to the conspiracy be substantial, not slight. We cannot subscribe to either polarized view, finding each incorrectly extreme in its application of conspiracy law. Accordingly, we restore symmetry and consistency to our law respecting the distinction between proving the existence of a conspiracy and establishing a defendant’s connection to it. Fidelity to the Constitution directs us to hold that the Government must prove the existence of a conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt, but upon establishing the conspiracy, only a slight connection need be made linking a defendant to the conspiracy to support a conspiracy conviction, although this connection also must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. We dispel any other formulation of this precept from the Fourth Circuit, and to the extent any decisions — and in particular, Bell, Giunta, and Truglio — are inconsistent with this dictate, we expressly overrule them. 2. We now turn to our standard of review. In Glasser, the Supreme Court explained that a jury verdict “must be sustained if there is substantial evidence, taking the view most favorable to the Government, to support it.” Glasser, 315 U.S. at 80, 62 S.Ct. at 469 (emphasis added). A reviewing court, therefore, may not overturn a substantially supported verdict merely because it finds the verdict unpalatable or determines that another, reasonable verdict would be preferable. Rather, we shall reverse a verdict if the record demonstrates a lack of evidence from which a jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v. Lowe, 65 F.3d 1137, 1142 (4th Cir.1995), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 117 S.Ct. 49, - L.Ed.2d - (1996). In explaining the circumscribed scope of our review, the Supreme Court explained in Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 17, 98 S.Ct. 2141, 2150, 57 L.Ed.2d 1 (1978), that “appellate reversal on grounds of insufficient evidence ... will be confined to cases where the prosecution’s failure is clear.” Thus, in the context of a criminal action, substantial evidence is evidence that a reasonable finder of fact could accept as adequate and sufficient to support a conclusion of a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See United States v. Smith, 29 F.3d 914, 917 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 454, 130 L.Ed.2d 363 (1994). In applying this standard of review, we must remain cognizant of the fact that “[t]he jury, not the reviewing court, weighs the credibility of the evidence and resolves any conflicts in the evidence presented, and if the evidence supports different, reasonable interpretations, the jury decides which interpretation to believe.” United States v. Murphy, 35 F.3d 143, 148 (4th Cir.1994) (citations omitted), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 954, 130 L.Ed.2d 897 (1995). Deferring to the jury’s findings, an “appellate court ... must sustain the verdict if there is substantial evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, to uphold it.” Burks, 437 U.S. at 17, 98 S.Ct. at 2150. Likewise, determinations of credibility “are within the sole province of the jury and are not susceptible to judicial review.” Lowe, 65 F.3d at 1142; see also Glasser, 315 U.S. at 80, 62 S.Ct. at 469. Thus, the appellate function is not to determine whether the reviewing court is convinced of guilt beyond reasonable doubt, but, viewing the evidence and the reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the Government, “whether the evidence adduced at trial could support any rational determination of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Powell, 469 U.S. 57, 67, 105 S.Ct. 471, 478, 83 L.Ed.2d 461 (1984). The focus of our review, therefore, is whether: The Government ... [has] satisfied] the courts that given [its] proof the jury could rationally have reached a verdict of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We do not believe that further safeguards against jury irrationality are necessary. Id. Critical to our review of sufficiency challenges is the complete picture that the evidence presents. See Al-Talib, 55 F.3d at 931. Consequently, we must not rend the garment of which the evidence is woven lest we analyze each individual fiber in isolation. See Durrive, 902 F.2d at 1229. The Supreme Court has admonished that we not examine evidence in a piecemeal fashion, but consider it in cumulative context. See, e.g., Kyles v. Whitley, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 1555, 131 L.Ed.2d 490 (1995) (explaining that the courts must evaluate the cumulative effect of evidence in connection with the prosecution’s revealing exculpatory evidence to a habeas petitioner); Glasser, 315 U.S. at 80-81, 62 S.Ct. at 469-70 (sustaining conspiracy convictions based on the circumstances surrounding the criminal activity). As the court in United States v. Douglas, 874 F.2d 1145, 1153 (7th Cir.), abrogated on other grounds by Durrive, 902 F.2d at 1228, and cert. denied, 493 U.S. 841, 110 S.Ct. 126, 107 L.Ed.2d 87 (1989), so cogently elucidated, “[w]hile any single piece of evidence, standing alone, might have been insufficient to establish [the defendant’s] participation in the ... drug conspiracy, a rational jury could infer from the totality of the evidence” that a conspiracy existed. The focus of appellate review, therefore, of the sufficiency of evidence to support a conviction is on the complete picture, viewed in context and in the light most favorable to the Government, that all of the evidence portrayed. B. Guided by the preceding principles, we address first Burgos’s challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his conspiracy conviction. Burgos asserts that his conviction must be reversed because the Government failed to prove that he participated in any conspiracy. We disagree. Viewing all of the evidence and the inferences to be drawn therefrom that were adduced at Bur-gos’s trial in the light most favorable to the Government, we conclude that the evidence against Burgos is sufficient for a jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he participated in a conspiracy with Gobern and Gonzales to distribute cocaine base at North Carolina A & T University. Indeed, the dissent does not disagree that a conspiracy existed between Gobern and Gonzales, but merely takes issue with the sufficiency of the evidence regarding Burgos’s participation in this conspiracy. The most damning physical evidence establishing Burgos’s participation in the conspiracy is that his left index fingerprint was impressed on the sealing mechanism at the top of the ziplock plastic bag in which the cocaine base was located. This plastic bag was wrapped in foil, which, in turn, was wrapped in newspaper, which was packaged in a box, which was wrapped in Christmas paper; in short, the cocaine base was intentionally and thoroughly concealed. Burgos devotes much energy to denigrating the fingerprint evidence, particularly because, he posits, this evidence is the sole evidence linking him to the conspiracy, a position that we find frivolous, considering all of the evidence before the jury. Federal appellate courts consistently have concluded that fingerprints constitute material, cogent proof in sustaining conspiracy convictions for contraband narcotics, particularly when viewed in the context of other circumstantial evidence. See, e.g., United States v. Langston, 970 F.2d 692, 706 (10th Cir.) (affirming a narcotics conspiracy conviction because the defendant was present at the location where the laboratory used to manufacture narcotics was operating, the odor of chemicals was prominent at the location, the defendant’s car at one point reeked of ether, there was testimony that “all” involved persons had overseen the laboratory, and defendant’s fingerprint was on laboratory instruments), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 965, 113 S.Ct. 439, 121 L.Ed.2d 358 (1992); United States v. Aichele, 941 F.2d 761, 763 (9th Cir.1991) (noting that defendant’s fingerprints on laboratory equipment, the odor of controlled substances in his residence and office, and the fact that the defendant’s keys opened the laboratory constituted sufficient evidence to sustain a conspiracy conviction); United States v. Ivey, 915 F.2d 380, 385 (8th Cir.1990) (sustaining a conspiracy conviction because the defendant’s fingerprint was on the package containing the cocaine that a co-conspirator collected, the defendant identified himself by his driver’s license number when collecting money sent to him, and telephone conversations between the defendant and coconspirators coincided with these events); United States v. Obregon, 893 F.2d 1307, 1311-12 (11th Cir.) (upholding a conspiracy conviction to import cocaine because the defendant’s fingerprints were placed on packages of drugs subsequent to the drugs’ insertion in the packages and all indicted persons were aboard a boat modified to conceal drugs in a known drug-smuggling area), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1090, 110 S.Ct. 1833, 108 L.Ed.2d 961 (1990); United States v. Arzold-Amaya, 867 F.2d 1504, 1513 (5th Cir.) (affirming drug conspiracy convictions based on the defendants’ fingerprints being found on a box containing cocaine and on beer bottles found in the vicinity of the criminal activity, the defendants’ presence and drug paraphernalia at a “ ‘stash house,’ ” and identification of a defendant by the secretary of a coconspirator), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 933, 110 S.Ct. 322, 107 L.Ed.2d 312 (1989). Burgos’s fingerprint impressed on the sealing mechanism of the plastic bag containing cocaine base, which was concealed inside a wrapped package, is a significant piece of evidence establishing his knowing and willful participation in the conspiracy. The fingerprint evidence against Burgos is strikingly similar to that in United States v. Hastamorir, 881 F.2d 1551 (11th Cir.1989). In Hastamorir, Defendant Ledezma contended that his conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine must be reversed for want of sufficient evidence. Id. at 1557. The evidence tying Ledezma to the conspiracy was his fingerprints on the exterior of two packages of cocaine. Id. According to Ledezma, this evidence “in no way demonstrate[d] that he knew what was inside the packages or that he had any intent to commit an illegal act.” Id. The Eleventh Circuit rejected this argument and affirmed his conspiracy conviction. The court reasoned that the fingerprint evidence, when coupled with Ledezma’s contradicted testimony that he was not with other eoconspira-tors, permitted the jury to infer that Ledez-ma perjured himself to conceal his role in the conspiracy. Id. According to the Eleventh Circuit, the combined effect of a defendant with no credibility and his fingerprints on packages containing cocaine supported the conspiracy conviction, considering the totality of circumstantial evidence and construing all inferences in favor of the Government. As the Hastamorir court explained, the issue is not whether the appellate court was convinced of guilt beyond all reasonable doubt, but whether the jury was convinced of this conclusion and its verdict was based on substantial evidence. Id. at 1558. The factual circumstances adduced from the testimony likewise give rise to the reasonable inference that Burgos knowingly and voluntarily participated in the conspiracy. Special Agent Kowalski testified that Burgos told him that Gobern possessed the wrapped Christmas package from the inception of the journey in New York: Q: Did [Burgos] say whether he talked to Gonzale[s] and Gobern while they were on the train? A: Yes, [Burgos] did. He rode with them. He told me that Mr. Gobern was the one who earned the package wrapped as a Christmas package. Q: All right. Did he make any statements as to how long Mr. Gobern had this package? A: He said Mr. Gobern had the package throughout the trip down. Q: All right. And did he tell you anything about what Mr. Burgos or Mr Gonzale[s]— what Mr. Gonzale[s] or Mr. Gobern told him about what was in the package during the train trip? A: What Mr. Burgos told me was that he knew that they had dope, although he didn’t see it. And it was his understanding — this is what he told me — it was his understanding they were going to sell the dope at the A &T University. Q: Did you ask him whether he knew that there was crack cocaine in the package? A: Yes. He said that he knew they had it, but he didn’t actually see it. (J.A. at 67-68.) (emphasis added). In addition, Special Agent Kowalski testified that he fingerprinted Burgos and one of Burgos’s fingerprints was on the plastic bag. Moreover, Burgos himself testified that Gobern, Gonzales, and the women sat behind him for the entire trip, he did not see anyone transfer material into a plastic bag, wrap or rew-rap the package, nor did he leave his seat except for the occasional visit to the train lavatory. Thus, not only was there positive testimony of Burgos’s knowing and willful participation in the conspiracy, but, as in Hastamorir, the testimony contradicted Bur-gos’s trial testimony, permitting the jury to infer that he had perjured himself. Contending that because Special Agent Kowalski was not aboard the train and Bur-gos’s credibility was damaged because of demeanor evidence, the dissent asserts that Hastamorir does not support our position. See post at 892-93 n. 11. We are baffled by this incorrect contention. Apparently, the dissent would require as a prerequisite to sustain a conspiracy conviction that law enforcement agents be present while the conspirators formulate their plans. In Hasta-morir, as here, the defendant lied, and the jury in each case found the testimony of other witnesses more credible than that of the defendants. The dissent contends that we are sustaining a conviction based purely on disbelief of Burgos. Our holding, however, rests on the unremarkable fact that Bur-gos gave conflicting renditions of the same events, and the jury chose to believe the rendition he told to Special Agent Kowalski. Moreover, as we explain, see infra at 866-70, if a defendant takes the stand, as Burgos did here, and the jury disbelieves him, this is simply added evidence of guilt. The dissent erroneously posits that there is no evidence establishing that Burgos assisted in packaging the cocaine base prior to boarding the train in New York. See post at 887-89. As we demonstrate infra at 865-66, however, a reasonable jury could infer from the facts that Burgos did assist in packaging the cocaine base before boarding the train in New York. In this regard, the dissent also incorrectly states that Special Agent Kowal-ski never testified that Burgos said Gobern possessed the cocaine base when he left New York. See post at 879-80, 887-89. Here, Special Agent Kowalski’s testimony established that Burgos had knowledge of the conspiracy to distribute cocaine base: Bur-gos knew that Gonzales and Gobern were transporting cocaine base, that it was being transported from New York City to Greensboro, that Gobern was the one who carried the wrapped Christmas package containing the cocaine base, and that the cocaine base was to be distributed at North Carolina A & T University. In conjunction with this testimony, the evidence that Burgos’s left index fingerprint was on the sealing mechanism of the plastic bag containing the cocaine base and Burgos’s testimony that there were no materials to wrap or rewrap the package aboard the train permitted the jury to infer that Burgos assisted in packaging the cocaine base in New York. Even the dissent acknowledges that the time Gobern was in the train station lavatory was too brief an interlude for him to transfer the 78.5 grams of cocaine base into the plastic bag before concealing it behind the commode. The dissent stubbornly refuses to acknowledge, however, that, based on this evidence, a rational juror could conclude that Burgos participated in the conspiracy by packaging the cocaine base in New York, even if this conclusion were not compelled. The issue is not whether “[a] rational juror would disagree on this too,” post at 887, but whether a rational juror could find that Burgos assisted in packaging the cocaine base in New York, and a rational juror certainly could. Indeed, we find this to be the rational conclusion: How else could Burgos’s fingerprint be found on an item inside a wrapped package that was wrapped since the inception of the trip from New York? Regardless, the jury was free to draw either conclusion, and substantial evidence supports the conclusion of guilt. Despite the evidence and inferences establishing Burgos’s knowing and willful participation in the conspiracy, our dissenting colleagues assert that we have excised from conspiracy jurisprudence the requirement that substantial evidence support the jury’s finding that a defendant knowingly and willfully participated in a conspiracy. To the contrary, we specifically recognize this requirement of the offense, see supra at 857-58, 858-59, and explain that the Government must prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, see supra at 858-59. While reciting the fundamental tenets of conspiracy law, the dissent fails to apply the principles that a defendant may be a member of a conspiracy without knowledge of or participation in its full scope and that a conspiracy need not be a tightly-knit organization run with precision. Only by viewing Special Agent Kowalski’s testimony and all the evidence adduced at trial in a light most favorable to Burgos and by faulting the Government for not disproving Bur-gos’s contradictory and vague explanations for the fingerprint evidence can the dissent conclude as a matter of law that no rational jury could draw the foregoing inferences. Viewed in a light most favorable to the Government, the evidence established that Bur-gos was not a mere traveling companion, but a knowing, willful participant in this narcotics distribution conspiracy. The dissent also would enlarge the scope of our sufficiency review by asking whether Burgos’s conviction can be sustained in the absence of proof that his explanation for his fingerprint was false. In the dissent’s view, the Government shouldered the burden of producing “evidence that Gobern did not put the cocaine into an empty plastic bag bearing Burgos’s fingerprint during the twelve hour train ride from New York,” post at 888. Subscribing to this view, however, contravenes well-established principles of criminal law. In Holland, the Supreme Court eschewed the contention that the “Government[ ] ... must exclude every reasonable hypothesis other than that of guilt.” Holland, 348 U.S. at 139, 75 S.Ct. at 137. We cannot, therefore, find the evidence of guilt insufficient simply because it failed to disprove every possible hypothesis regarding Burgos’s purported innocence. The jury considered Burgos’s defense as well as the Government’s case, and our limited task in reviewing the verdict is simply to assure that substantial evidence supports it. To reiterate, Burgos’s fingerprint was impressed on the sealing mechanism of a plastic bag wrapped in aluminum foil, packed in newspaper, and encased in a wrapped package. At trial, Burgos explained the presence of his fingerprint on the sealing mechanism of the plastic bag by testifying that Gobern apparently consumed a sandwich Burgos prepared, and, unbeknownst to Burgos, placed the cocaine base in the plastic bag without leaving any of his own fingerprints on it. Burgos testified further that although he sat in front of Gobern during the trip from New York, he never saw the Christmas package prior to disembarking from the train. To accept Burgos’s rendition of the testimony, the jury would have had to find that Gobern saved the plastic bag, entered the lavatory, tore open the Christmas package and the cereal box, unwrapped the newspaper and aluminum foil from the cocaine base, placed the cocaine base in the plastic bag without leaving his fingerprint, wrapped the plastic bag in aluminum foil, swaddled the aluminum foil in the newspaper, and secreted the cocaine base behind the commode. The implausibility of this transpiring within two minutes runs deep, as the dissent concedes. Regardless, while this account of events strikes us as highly implausible, material for our purposes is the fact that the jury disbelieved this version of the events, and its disbelief was rational, particularly given the context and content of the testimony of Officers Blanks and Kaplan and Special Agent Kowalski. The competing versions of the evidence related by Special Agent Kowalski and Bur-gos establish another, critical circumstance supporting Burgos’s participation in the conspiracy. Special Agent Kowalski testified that Burgos told him that he knew Gonzales and conversed with both Gonzales and Go-bern on the train from New York. Additionally, Special Agent Kowalski testified that Burgos admitted that he knew cocaine base was in the Christmas package that Gobern possessed from the commencement of the trip in New York and that the cocaine base was slated for distribution at a college in Greensboro, North Carolina. As a law enforcement agent, Special Agent Kowalski’s testimony was likely compelling to the jury. See United States v. Arra, 630 F.2d 836, 849 (1st Cir.1980) (stating that the testimony of the arresting officers alone would have been sufficient to sustain the conviction); United States v. Carney, 468 F.2d 354, 359 (8th Cir.1972) (noting that the testimony of the arresting law enforcement agent was, standing alone, sufficient to affirm the conviction). The testimony of Special Agent Kowalski would have been sufficient to convict Burgos of conspiracy, regardless of his status as a law enforcement officer. Here, we are presented with the classic example of two witnesses offering conflicting testimony regarding the same events, and the jury decided which testimony to accept and which to reject; the testimony that was accepted by the jury in this appeal is sufficient to support the verdict. Indeed, at oral argument, counsel for Burgos conceded that for a jury to accept the testimony of Special Agent Kowalski and Officers Blanks and Kaplan is not irrational. Given this concession, especially when coupled with Burgos’s fingerprint on the plastic bag, Burgos can hardly challenge his conspiracy conviction. In stark contradiction to Special Agent Kowalski’s testimony, however, Bur-gos denied making certain statements to Special Agent Kowalski, claiming that he never told him that Gobern carried the Christmas package on the train or that he knew Gobern and Gonzales were traveling to Greensboro to distribute cocaine base. Bur-gos could offer no explanation for the blatant discrepancies between his and Special Agent Kowalski’s testimony. Burgos’s contradicted testimony and his own conflicting responses on direct and cross-examination undoubtedly undermined his credibility, thereby supporting the inference that Burgos attempted to disavow his participation in the conspiracy. Relating implausible, conflicting tales to the jury can be rationally viewed as further circumstantial evidence indicating guilt. See, e.g., Wright, 505 U.S. at 295-96, 112 S.Ct. at 2492 (explaining that a defendant’s contradictory, vague, and evasive answers contribute to a finding of guilt); United States v. Johnson, 64 F.3d 1120, 1128 (8th Cir.1995) (observing that lying to law enforcement agents contributes to a finding of guilt), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 116 S.Ct. 971, 133 L.Ed.2d 891 (1996); United States v. Stanley, 24 F.3d 1314, 1321 (11th Cir.1994) (noting that conflicting statements and implausible stories are indicia of guilt and enter the calculus for sustaining conspiracy convictions); United States v. Casilla, 20 F.3d 600, 606 (5th Cir.) (explaining that trial testimony that is inconsistent with various statements made to customs officials, especially when accompanied by other circumstantial evidence, gives rise to a reasonable inference that a defendant participated in a narcotics conspiracy and attempted to conceal his participation), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 240, 130 L.Ed.2d 163 (1994); United States v. Solis, 841 F.2d 307, 310 (9th Cir.1988) (stating that “making up an implausible cover story” is a circumstance contributing to a finding of guilt in connection with a drug conspiracy). Not only did Burgos deny making statements to Special Agent Kowalski, he also offered the jury an implausible explanation for his fingerprint. Indeed, in United States v. Bennett, 848 F.2d 1134, 1139 (11th Cir.1988), the Eleventh Circuit recognized “that a defendant’s implausible explanation may constitute positive evidence in support of a jury ve