## Facts

- Three Nigerian citizens (Charles Emenogha, Vincent Nwafor, and Gibson Nwafor) participated in a scheme to import heroin from Nigeria for distribution in Chicago.
- The conspiracy financed couriers to buy heroin in Lagos and transport it to Chicago, where members divided and sold it.
- Vincent Nwafor organized heroin purchases and supervised distribution in Chicago.
- Gibson Nwafor managed proceeds by storing profits, converting cash into larger denominations at banks, and wiring money abroad; he also conducted cash transactions in amounts designed to avoid bank reporting requirements.
- Emenogha served as a courier and transported heroin from Nigeria to Chicago on at least three occasions.
- After a jury trial in the Northern District of Illinois, the defendants were convicted of: (1) conspiracy to import and distribute heroin; (2) substantive heroin offenses for Emenogha and Vincent; and (3) multiple structuring counts for Gibson.
- The district court imposed substantial prison terms, and all defendants filed a consolidated direct appeal challenging aspects of their convictions and sentences.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove each defendant’s knowing participation in the heroin conspiracy and the related substantive counts.
2. Whether bank currency-transaction reports and related bank documentation used to prove structuring were inadmissible hearsay or lacked an adequate foundation under the Federal Rules of Evidence.
3. Whether the district court committed reversible error in sentencing findings, including drug quantity attribution and role-based adjustments.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed all convictions and sentences.
- The court held the evidence was sufficient for a rational jury to find an agreement and knowing participation by each defendant, given repeated heroin shipments, coordinated roles, and corroborated testimony.
- The court rejected Gibson Nwafor’s evidentiary objections and held the currency-transaction reports were properly admitted as business records.
- The court upheld sentencing determinations, concluding the district court’s factual findings on relevant conduct, drug quantities, and leadership roles were not clearly erroneous.

## Legal Principles

- Business records are admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 803(6) when a qualified witness establishes the records were made in the course of a regularly conducted activity and it was the entity’s regular practice to make and keep them.
- A qualified witness need not have personally prepared each record; familiarity with the record-keeping system and practices can supply the foundation.
- Disputes about the accuracy of particular entries or imperfections in a witness’s recollection generally affect the weight of the evidence, not admissibility.
- A pattern of multiple cash transactions structured below reporting thresholds, supported by documentary and testimonial evidence, can permit an inference of intent to evade reporting requirements under federal structuring statutes.
- On appeal, factual findings supporting Sentencing Guidelines calculations are reviewed deferentially and will be sustained absent clear error.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit affirmed convictions arising from a heroin importation and distribution conspiracy and related structuring offenses, holding that the government presented sufficient evidence of each defendant’s role and that bank currency-transaction reports were admissible as business records with any alleged inaccuracies bearing on weight rather than admissibility.


United States v. Emenogha, 1 F.3d 473 (7th Cir. 1993)