United States v. Powell, No. 10-2535 (7th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of distributing crack cocaine (21 U.S.C. 841) and sentenced to 420 months in prison. The Seventh Circuit, rejecting a "cumulative error" argument. The district court erred in admitting evidence of defendant's other drug-dealing activity, but the error was harmless in light of overwhelming evidence of guilt. A jury instruction on aiding and abetting was supported by evidence that, even if defendant did not personally hand the cocaine to a confidential informant, he arranged the sale and prepared the crack cocaine himself to reassure the informant of its quality. The district court properly denied a request for a mistrial, based on testimony about a recorded telephone call, played for the jury, that involved a reference to the potential sentence. The Fair Sentencing Act does not apply retroactively to th defendant's sentence.
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