United States v. Frank C. McLister

A jury found Frank C. McLister guilty of distributing cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1) and acquitted him of conspiring to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 .

Factual Background

McLister and three codefendants, John Irwin, Sharon Baker, and Thane Rucker were arrested after participating in a transaction in which a pound of cocaine was sold to an undercover government agent. McLister does not deny his participation or his knowledge that the sale involved cocaine. Rather, he contends that he lacked the requisite criminal intent.

The events leading to the arrests began in Denver, Colorado, where Irwin was arrested by the Denver Police Department in December, 1977, for possession of cocaine. In exchange for a dismissal of the criminal charge against him, Irwin agreed to become an informant for the Police Department. In February, 1978, Irwin met Darrell Wisdom, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, who was posing as a large scale drug dealer. Wisdom was aware of Irwin’s status, but Irwin did not know that Wisdom was a DEA agent. In subsequent negotiations, Wisdom began to suspect that Irwin was “double dealing”, i. e., acting as an informant…