Levy

MEMORANDUM **

Defendant Shlomo Levy was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to import 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Ecstasy), conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute Ecstasy, aiding and abetting the importation of Ecstasy and aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute Ecstasy. Levy appeals his conviction and 210-month sentence on nine grounds. We have jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3742 (a) and 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm. Because the parties are familiar with the facts, we do not recite them in detail.

First, the government concedes and we agree that the admission of the guilty pleas of four alleged co-conspirators was error under Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 , 124 S.Ct. 1354 , 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), but we hold that this error was harmless. The pleas were not needed to establish the existence of the Ecstasy trafficking conspiracy because its existence was already supported by witness testimony, drug shipment receipts and phone records showing extensive contacts between the conspirators. Similarly, the pleas did not significantly bolster the credibility of government witness Esudri because his claims that the four individuals who pled…