## Facts

- Federal prosecutors charged a large narcotics organization operating in the Bitumul (Israel Ward) area of Hato Rey, San Juan, Puerto Rico, from January 1990 through March 1994.
- The government’s theory was a single organization controlling multiple street-level “drug points” that sold cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, using coordinated violence (including multiple killings) to protect territory, discipline members, and deter rivals.
- Twenty-two defendants were indicted; after a lengthy jury trial, eleven defendants were convicted and appealed. Eight received life sentences and three received sentences exceeding twenty years.
- Two defendants, including William Soto-Beníquez, were convicted of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise (CCE) under 21 U.S.C. § 848 in addition to drug-trafficking offenses.
- During the investigation, police seized a firearm from one of the accused. The government contended the gun was connected to several of the homicides linked to the conspiracy’s enforcement efforts.
- At trial, the government offered a photograph of the seized firearm. Defense counsel objected that the photograph was not reliably shown to depict the same gun police recovered.
- The district court admitted the photograph after the arresting officer testified it showed the seized gun and the pictured gun bore markings matching the description in the police report.
- The jury convicted the defendants on conspiracy and related counts, and the district court imposed lengthy sentences based on, among other things, drug quantities and roles in the organization.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to permit the jury to find a single overarching drug-distribution conspiracy (rather than multiple unrelated conspiracies) and each defendant’s knowing participation.
2. Whether the evidence supported the CCE conviction(s), including proof of a continuing series of felony drug violations, management of five or more persons, and substantial income or resources.
3. Whether the district court abused its discretion by admitting a photograph of the seized gun under Federal Rule of Evidence 901.
4. Whether admission of evidence of murders and other violence connected to the organization was improper under Rules 403 and 404(b), given the risk of unfair prejudice.
5. Whether the jury instructions on conspiracy (including any multiple-conspiracy concerns and co-conspirator liability) adequately required individualized findings for each defendant.
6. Whether the sentences were erroneous based on drug-quantity findings, role findings, and related constitutional challenges to fact-finding affecting statutory penalties.

## Decision

- The First Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentences of all eleven appellants.
- The court held that the trial evidence permitted a rational jury to find one organization operating multiple drug points with shared objectives, overlap among participants, and coordinated protection of territory, supporting the single-conspiracy verdict and each defendant’s membership.
- The court upheld the CCE conviction(s), concluding the record supported the statutory requirements, including a continuing series of drug felonies and the defendant’s supervisory role over at least five participants.
- The court ruled the gun photograph was properly authenticated under Rule 901 because an officer with knowledge testified it depicted the seized gun and the markings in the photograph matched the contemporaneous police report; remaining disputes went to weight, not admissibility.
- The court rejected challenges to the admission of murder/violence evidence, concluding the violence was part of how the charged conspiracy operated and, in any event, the district court did not commit reversible error under Rule 403.
- The court found no reversible instructional or sentencing error and rejected remaining claims for relief.

## Legal Principles

- Sufficiency of the evidence is reviewed in the light most favorable to the verdict; reversal is warranted only if no rational juror could find the essential elements beyond a reasonable doubt.
- A single conspiracy may be proved where the evidence shows a common goal, coordination or interdependence among subgroups, and awareness (actual or reasonably inferable) of the broader operation, even if participants and locations vary.
- Continuing criminal enterprise liability under 21 U.S.C. § 848 requires (1) a felony drug law violation, (2) that is part of a continuing series of such violations, (3) undertaken with five or more persons the defendant organizes, supervises, or manages, and (4) from which the defendant obtains substantial income or resources.
- Federal Rule of Evidence 901 requires only evidence sufficient to support a finding that the item is what the proponent claims; testimony of a witness with knowledge and distinctive characteristics can satisfy the standard, and weaknesses in identification typically affect weight.
- Evidence of violence may be admissible where it is tied to the charged drug conspiracy’s methods of operation (such as protecting drug points or enforcing discipline), and Rule 403 balancing is reviewed for abuse of discretion.
- In conspiracy sentencing, a defendant may be held accountable for drug quantities within the scope of jointly undertaken activity that were reasonably foreseeable to the defendant; appellate review of quantity and role findings is generally for clear error.

## Conclusion

United States v. Soto-Beníquez affirmed wide-ranging convictions and sentences arising from a multi-year Puerto Rico drug organization that used violence, including killings, to protect its drug points; the First Circuit held that the government sufficiently proved a single conspiracy and any CCE counts, and that the district court acted within its discretion in admitting a photograph of the seized gun because the officer’s testimony and matching identifying markings provided an adequate Rule 901 foundation.


United States v. Soto-Beníquez, 356 F.3d 1 (2003)