People v. Smith

Certified for Partial Publication [*]

Defendants Smith, Thomas and Gonzalez were apprehended in a "sting" operation when they took 85 kilograms of cocaine planted by the police in a house the police controlled. Following a jury trial defendants were convicted of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, attempting to transport a controlled substance and grand theft. In addition to the punishment for these crimes, each defendant received a sentence enhancement for weapons use and a 25 year enhancement for attempting to transport more than 80 kilograms of cocaine. Unrelated murder charges against Thomas and Gonzalez were dismissed after the jury failed to reach a verdict on those counts. Defendants appeal their convictions and sentences. We affirm defendants' convictions but modify their quantity enhancements due to pre-arrest sentence manipulation by the police.

The police received information from a reliable informant defendant Smith was engaged in drug trafficking and home invasion robberies. Acting on this information an undercover police officer pretending to work for a major drug dealer met with Smith to find out whether she would be interested in stealing a…