Pimentel-Tafolla

MEMORANDUM **

The seven defendants in these consolidated cases (Mariano Pimentel-Tafolla, Randy James, Donald Frank Printz, Vincent Martinez, Carlos Salazar-Lopez, William Lanter, and Joshua Springfield) were involved, to varying degrees, in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy in Bill *573 ings, Montana. All were convicted of conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute, under 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1), 846, and 18 U.S.C. § 2 . Each defendant was also convicted of some combination of various counts of possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine, under 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 , and using a firearm in a drug trafficking crime, under 18 U.S.C. § 924 (c)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 . The facts of the case and the specific convictions are well known to all parties, so we will not repeat them here except as necessary to explain our holding.

We address Appellants’ contentions on appeal in turn.

1. Pimentel-Tafolla’s Motion for a Mistrial

Pimentel-Tafolla argues on appeal that the district court should have granted his motion for a mistrial based on the prosecutor’s statements during his closing argument. The prosecutor stated in his closing…