United States v. Manuel Vasquez Contreras

Manuel Vasquez Contreras appeals from his sentencing on various drug charges. We affirm.

FACTS

The FBI arrested Contreras after he had arranged a major cocaine sale with an undercover agent and made the initial delivery of five kilograms. At the time of delivery, Contreras had a semi-automatic pistol stuck in his waistband. He was indicted along with nine others and charged with six of the eighteen counts: conspiracy to distribute cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 846 ; possession of five kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1); possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, 18 U.S.C. § 924 (c); and three telephone counts, 21 U.S.C. § 843 (b). A jury found Contreras guilty on all counts. It answered affirmatively a special interrogatory asking whether he had possessed in excess of five kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute.

The district court sentenced Contreras to fifteen years in prison. The court rejected Contreras’s contentions that 21 U.S.C. § 841 (b)(1)(A) permits the court the discretion to impose less than the designated minimum 10-year prison sentence and that the provision constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The district…