Romero

Defendant Ponciano Ochoa Romero (defendant) took delivery of over two tons of cocaine, plus over seventy pounds of marijuana. The police seized one ton of the cocaine while it was still at his business, and another ton after it had been shipped on to the next link in the distribution chain. Defendant was convicted of conspiracy, transportation of a controlled substance, possession for sale of a controlled substance, and possession for sale of marijuana, and sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Defendant contends the trial court erred by:

We find no error, and we will affirm.

I

Factual Background

Expert testimony established that Colombian drug cartels import cocaine through Mexico, often by tractor-trailer. Once the cocaine is in this country, it is taken to a “warehouse”—someplace where it can be stored in large quantities. The person in charge of the warehouse would have to be someone the cartel could trust. Next, relatively smaller quantities are taken from the warehouse to “stash houses.” Finally, the cocaine is distributed from the stash houses to dealers, in quantities of two to four kilograms at a time.

Defendant owned Ernie’s Auto Repair in Bloomington. On…