United States v. Rolando Lopez, United States of America v. Josefa Fuentes
Opinion
Opinion
O'Scannlain, J.
We must decide, among other' issues, whether a substantive crime and a conspiracy to commit that crime are separate offenses for sentence enhancement purposes.
I
During September 1991, the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) was conducting an investigation of appellants Fuentes and Lopez. Special Agent Jose Martinez arranged a meeting with them through informants Maria Arellano and Arturo Rodriguez. On September 30, 1991, Arellano called Fuentes to arrange a heroin deal.
On October 1, 1991, Agent Martinez purchased 25 grams of heroin from Fuentes for $3,200. Martinez told Fuentes he was interested in purchasing large quantities of heroin. Martinez testified that Fuentes told him that she had to check with her source, whom she implied was her husband, Lopez.
On October 15, 1991, Martinez called Fuentes to arrange another heroin purchase. The next day, Martinez tape-recorded a phone conversation in which Lopez told Arel-lano that he was prepared to sell ten ounces of heroin that day.
On October 16, 1991, Lopez and Fuentes met with Arellano and Rodriguez in a Burger King parking lot to transact the drug deal. After confirming that they had brought the heroin, Rodriguez signaled…