United States v. Mary Chris Brigole Alfeche, United States of America v. William Bautista
Opinion
Opinion
Co-defendants Mary Alfeche and William Bautista pled guilty to possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. The district judge sentenced defendants to the 10-year minimum provided by 21 U.S.C. § 841 (b)(1)(A)(viii) (1988). The defendants argue under the correct interpretation of this statute they did not possess enough methamphetamine to trigger the 10-year minimum. We affirm.
I
The facts are not disputed. Defendants possessed three bags of methamphetamine. Chemical analysis revealed bag 1 contained 30.9 grams of 99% pure methamphetamine hydrochloride, bag 2 contained 21.5 grams of 100% pure methamphetamine hydrochloride, and bag 3 contained 69.5 grams of 97% pure methamphetamine hydrochloride. In total the bags contained 121.9 grams of sample, of which 119.6 grams was methamphetamine hydrochloride and the rest unknown impurities.
21 U.S.C. § 841 (b)(1)(B)(viii) provided a 10-year minimum sentence for offenses involving
Defendants argue because their methamphetamine was not “pure” methamphetamine hydrochloride, they possessed “a mixture or substance containing” methamphetamine and should have been sentenced to the five-year minimum sentence for offenses…