## Facts

- Undercover agent Carr arranged to buy 500 grams of cocaine from Evelio Pinto.
- Pinto contacted Sam Pagan to obtain the cocaine.
- Pagan contacted Humberto Lechuga, who had sold cocaine to Pagan (and indirectly to Pinto) before.
- Lechuga directed Pagan to an apartment building where Pagan could pick up the cocaine and pay Lechuga using money Pagan expected to receive from Pinto at the handoff.
- Pagan went to the designated building with Pinto and Carr and came out carrying two packages.
- One package contained the 500 grams Carr sought to purchase; the second contained three ounces of cocaine.
- The three-ounce package was included to make up for a prior three-person transaction among Lechuga, Pagan, and Pinto in which a delivery had come up three ounces short.
- After Pagan handed the packages to Pinto, Pagan and Pinto were arrested; Lechuga was arrested later.
- A federal indictment charged Lechuga with (1) possession of more than 500 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute and (2) conspiracy with Pinto and unnamed others to distribute cocaine.
- At trial, the government argued the conspiracy charge was shown because Lechuga sold a quantity too large for personal use, so he must have known Pinto would resell.
- The jury convicted Lechuga on both counts, and the district court sentenced him to 75 months’ imprisonment.
- Lechuga appealed, and the Seventh Circuit heard the case en banc.

## Issues

1. Whether evidence that a supplier sold a resale quantity of cocaine, and therefore knew the buyer would resell it, is sufficient by itself to prove the supplier joined a conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain Lechuga’s conviction for possession of more than 500 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit (en banc) affirmed Lechuga’s conviction for possession with intent to distribute.
- The court reversed Lechuga’s conviction for conspiracy to distribute because the evidence did not allow a reasonable jury to find an agreement to pursue distribution beyond the completed sale.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the reversal (including resentencing without the conspiracy count).

## Legal Principles

- A drug conspiracy under 21 U.S.C. § 846 requires proof of an agreement to commit a drug-distribution crime; it is not enough to show only a sale and a purchase.
- A buyer–seller transaction, even involving a large quantity and even if the seller knows the buyer is likely to resell, does not by itself establish that the seller agreed to join the buyer’s downstream distribution plan.
- Evidence that the quantity is too large for personal use is strong proof for the substantive offense (possession with intent to distribute), because it supports an inference of intent that the drugs will be distributed.
- To turn repeated or large-quantity sales into proof of conspiracy, the government must show facts that reasonably support an agreement to further distribution beyond the immediate sale—such as sales on credit (fronting), profit-sharing, coordinated planning that reflects a shared stake in future sales, or other conduct showing joint action rather than ordinary dealing.
- When reviewing sufficiency of the evidence, an appellate court asks whether any rational jury could find the elements proved beyond a reasonable doubt; if the evidence supports only a buyer–seller relationship, a conspiracy conviction cannot stand.

## Conclusion

The en banc Seventh Circuit held that selling a large amount of cocaine, and knowing it will be resold, does not alone prove a distribution conspiracy; because the record showed only a supplier-to-buyer sale (even with an extra “make-up” amount), the court reversed the conspiracy conviction while affirming the possession-with-intent conviction and remanding for resentencing.


United States v. Lechuga, 994 F.2d 346 (1993)