United States v. Montez, No. 16-1188 (7th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseFederal agents placed court‐authorized wiretaps on Gallo's phones. They intercepted a call between Montez and Gallo, and another between Montez and Gallo’s brother. The government charged multiple individuals, including Gallo, his brother, and Montez, with narcotics conspiracy, 21 U.S.C. 846. Gallo and others were indicted on conspiracy charges, Montez was indicted on three counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1). The court rejected Montez’s “blanket objection to every statement in the recordings," provided examples of statements that were not hearsay, held that Gallo’s brother’s words were necessary as context for Montez’s admissions, and allowed the recordings to be played to the jury. Gallo testified that Montez was a customer of his organization. FBI agents testified that, when arrested, Montez had admitted to purchasing cocaine. Montez attempted to cast himself as a user of cocaine, not a distributor. He called an agent who testified that he didn’t find any typical drug‐dealing paraphernalia in Montez’s home. Montez was convicted of one count, but acquitted of two counts. The court found that Montez was a career offender based on his 1985 Illinois murder conviction and 2007 conviction for aggravated battery of an officer and sentenced Montez to 210 months’ imprisonment. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the conviction and application of the sentencing enhancement. Statements in the wiretapped calls were not offered for the truth of the matters asserted therein.
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