United States v. Thomas Nicholas Marotta

Appellant appeals from his convictions for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute approximately ninety-nine kilo bricks of marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 , and for Conspiring to import the same marijuana into the United States from Mexico, in violation of 21 U.S.C.' § 963. Appellant was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, three years’ special parole, and a $3,000 fine on each count, the prison terms to be served District of California, sitting by designation. consecutively. Imposition of imprisonment was suspended and appellant placed on probation for five years, conditioned upon confinement for one hundred eighty days. Appellant urges three errors on appeal: (1) the continuing of the trial in his absence, (2) insufficiency of the evidence, and (3) conviction on two counts of conspiracy when only one conspiracy existed. For the reasons stated below, we affirm appellant’s convictions on both counts.

Appellant’s first contention on appeal is that the district court erred in continuing the trial in his absence. Appellant on bail was present at the first day of trial, at the end of which a recess of two days was ordered by the court. When trial…