United States v. John E. Irwin

John E. Irwin has appealed his conviction of distributing cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1) and of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 .

Factual Background

In December, 1977, the Denver Police Department arrested Irwin 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. To “work off” the charge, Irwin first gave information that led to the arrest and conviction of his source and later attempted to set up some large scale drug transactions.

In February, 1978, Irwin met Darrell Wisdom, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent who was posing as a large scale drug dealer. Irwin did not know Wisdom was an undercover agent, although Wisdom knew that Irwin was working as a confidential informant for the Denver Police Department. Based upon Irwin’s negotiations with Wisdom, two DEA agents later informed the Denver Police that they thought Irwin was “double dealing”, i. e., acting as an informant and selling drugs on the side.

In March, 1978, Irwin learned through a friend of Sharon Baker, his girl friend, that Frank McLister, who lived in…