## Facts

- Ernest Spiller was prosecuted for crack-cocaine trafficking and related offenses, including distributing cocaine base, maintaining a drug premises, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
- The government introduced handwritten drug ledgers purportedly kept by Spiller that recorded drug transactions and quantities tied to an ongoing crack operation.
- The district court admitted the ledgers’ existence as other-acts evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) for permissible purposes such as intent, knowledge, and plan.
- The district court also admitted the ledgers’ detailed entries as substantive evidence, treating them as nonhearsay admissions of a party-opponent under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2) after finding adequate proof that Spiller authored the writings.
- The ledger quantities were relied on to determine drug quantity and relevant conduct at sentencing, increasing Spiller’s guideline exposure.
- Spiller was convicted on all counts.

## Issues

1. Whether handwritten drug-ledger entries sufficiently attributed to the defendant are admissible as nonhearsay party-opponent admissions under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2).
2. Whether the district court could rely on the ledger entries to determine drug quantity and relevant conduct for sentencing.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed Spiller’s convictions and sentence.
- The court held the government presented sufficient evidence to authenticate and attribute the ledgers to Spiller, permitting their admission as his own statements.
- The court concluded the detailed entries were admissible for their truth as Rule 801(d)(2) admissions.
- The court upheld the district court’s reliance on the ledger quantities at sentencing, finding no reversible error in the drug-quantity determination.

## Legal Principles

- A defendant’s own out-of-court statements, including written records, are admissible against him as nonhearsay under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2) if adequately authenticated and attributed to him.
- Authentication under Federal Rule of Evidence 901 requires evidence sufficient for a reasonable factfinder to conclude the item is what the proponent claims; circumstantial proof may suffice.
- At sentencing, drug quantity and relevant conduct may be found by a preponderance of the evidence, and the court may consider information with sufficient indicia of reliability, including reliable documentary records attributable to the defendant.
- Appellate review generally defers to the district court on evidentiary admission and sentencing factfinding absent an abuse of discretion or clear error, respectively.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit held that once handwritten drug ledgers are sufficiently linked to a defendant, their entries are admissible as the defendant’s own admissions and may be used both as substantive trial evidence and as reliable support for drug-quantity findings at sentencing.


United States v. Spiller, 261 F.3d 683 (7th Cir. 2001)