Arlt

MEMORANDUM

FACTS

We state the facts as presented by the government and accepted by the jury. Arlt challenges the testimony of an important witness, Russell Higgins, who was a co-conspirator but not indicted and who was not known for his veracity. The jury evidently believed him, and we are not given sufficient reason to find him incredible, especially as the substance of his testimony tallies with much other direct and circumstantial evidence.

As early as December 13, 1989 officers engaged in surveillance of Chem Labs Supplies in Placentia, California observed *434 Arlt purchasing chemicals that could be used as precursors in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Two days earlier, Arlt had paid $11,050 in cash for two 650 pound barrels of hydriodic acid (HI) from West Agro in Kansas City, Missouri. The surveillance team traced Arlt’s van from Placentia to San Diego, where he delivered the chemicals to a residence where methamphetamine was being made. On December 22, 1989, for $16,575, Arlt bought three more 650 pound drums from West Agro.

HI, an ingredient essential to the making of the drug, was hard to get in California. Through his aunt, Deanna Pierce, Arlt located another…