UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ronnie B. EDMONDS, Defendant-Appellant

Ronnie B. Edmonds appeals his jury conviction for making seventeen false statements to law enforcement officers in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001 . Edmonds also appeals his sentence of 41 months imprisonment, followed by three years supervised release. The district court had jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231 . We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Appellant Ronnie B. Edmonds (“Edmonds”) worked as an informant for Operation Alliance, a multi-agency task force created to combat illegal drug trafficking. In the spring of 1992, Edmonds reported to Detective Richard Kennedy of the Sheriffs Department of Hillsborough County, Florida, that a large amount of cocaine was being moved from California to Florida by “Jose Gonzalez.” Detective Kennedy contacted the Customs Service, which then relayed the information about Jose Gonzalez to Operation Alliance. '

As an informant for Operation Alliance, Edmonds reported on numerous occasions that specific businesses and persons were being used by “Jose Gonzalez” to transport and store drugs. Edmonds also provided information about the time and place of drug trafficking transactions. Edmonds signed statements…