United States v. Gardner, No. 20-1118 (6th Cir. 2022)
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In 2017-2018, a drug-trafficking conspiracy distributed more than 100 kilograms of powder and crack cocaine and involved dozens of actors from Michigan, Texas, and Arkansas, including Mayfield, the Grand Rapids-based ringleader; Gentry, who supplied Mayfield from Houston, with kilogram quantities of cocaine; and the Grand Rapids couriers, distributors, and dealers (Gardner, Marvin Nix, Brown, Carey, Kolarich, Martinellus Nix). Of 27 co-conspirators convicted, six appealed: Gardner, Brown, Carey, Kolarich, Marvin Nix, and Martinellus Nix.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed the issuing judge’s finding of necessity for three wiretaps and the reviewing judge’s denial of the motion to suppress. Each wiretap application met “Title III’s necessity standard,” 18 U.S.C. 2510–2520. Investigators did not use the wiretaps as an initial step; they provided detailed explanations as to why traditional investigative techniques failed to expose the entire scope of the drug-trafficking enterprise. The court upheld the admission of voice-identification testimony and the use of a “constructive possession” jury instruction. The government presented sufficient evidence of Brown’s and Kolarich’s role in the drug-trafficking ring to support each count of conviction. Rejecting challenges to the sentence imposed, the court upheld the drug-quantity determinations and the imposition of a drug-premises enhancement. The court vacated the imposition of a 21 U.S.C. 862(a) lifetime ban on federal benefits for Gardner; his drug conspiracy conviction falls outside of 862(a)’s reach.
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