United States v. Peter Charles Acuna

Acuna appeals from his sentence imposed under the United States Sentencing Guidelines (Guidelines) for various narcotics and weapons offenses. The district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231 . We have jurisdiction over this timely appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

I

On April 19,1991, Acuna, a California resident, telephoned Geo-Data Chemicals (Geo-Data), located in Boise, Idaho, and inquired about the purchase of hydriodic acid, a methamphetamine precursor. The next day, Acu-na and his wife met with a representative of Geo-Data and discussed the purchase of hy-driodic acid, ephedrine, thionyl chloride, and glassware. Acuna also stated that he could provide freshly cooked methamphetamine for $10,000 per pound. That evening, Acuna purchased 10 gallons of hydriodic acid from the Geo-Data representative. Acuna was unaware that the Geo-Data representative was an undercover narcotics agent and Geo-Data was a covert operation run by the Idaho Bureau of Narcotics.

Between May 6 and May 11, 1991, Acuna made frequent calls to Geo-Data. He negotiated for the purchase of ephedrine, hy-driodic acid, methylamine, thionyl chloride, phenylacetic acid, and red…