US v. Seth Thoma

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 7:10-cr-00016-jct-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998901866].. [11-4398]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 11-4398

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
SETH LINKOUS THOMAS,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of Virginia, at Roanoke.
James C. Turk, Senior
District Judge. (7:10-cr-00016-jct-1)

Argued:

March 21, 2012

Decided:

July 25, 2012

Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, and KING and WYNN, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, vacated
remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

in

part,

and

ARGUED: Paul Graham Beers, GLENN, FELDMANN, DARBY & GOODLATTE,
Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellant.
Thomas Ernest Booth, UNITED
STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.
ON BRIEF: Timothy J. Heaphy, United States Attorney, Donald R.
Wolthuis, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED
STATES ATTORNEY, Roanoke, Virginia; Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant
Attorney General, Greg D. Andres, Acting Deputy Assistant
Attorney
General,
UNITED
STATES
DEPARTMENT
OF
JUSTICE,
Washington, D.C., for Appellee.

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Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Seth

Thomas

appeals

his

convictions

and

sentence

for

multiple drug-related counts, raising several different issues.
We affirm one conviction, reverse two others, vacate Thomas’s
sentence, and remand for resentencing.

I.
In

2006

and

Christiansburg,
distribution.

2007,

Virginia,

the

Smokey

were

a

Ridge

hotbed

of

Apartments
illegal

in
drug

Thomas did not live there, but he worked close by

and spent a lot of time there feeding his drug habit.
One of the main suppliers in the complex during that period
was Aaron Thompson.
daily.
month. 1

Thompson sold painkillers and pills almost

He sold fentanyl patches less frequently, about once per
Thomas

also

sold

painkillers

and

pills

to

various

individuals in the apartment complex.
Thompson and Jennie Grissom were the primary drug suppliers
to Jimmy Clark, Clark’s girlfriend Whitney Branscom, and Clark’s
1

Fentanyl is a very powerful pain-relieving drug, about 50
to 100 times stronger than morphine, often prescribed to cancer
patients.
Fentanyl comes in various forms, including gel
patches that are placed on the skin so that the medicine can
enter the bloodstream gradually over three days.
Addicts,
however, sometimes remove the gel from the patch and eat it,
causing three days’ worth of the powerful medicine to enter the
body at once. The result can be respiratory depression, central
nervous system depression, and death.

3

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neighbor

Kenneth

however,

was

more

Ponder.
social.

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Clark’s

relationship

with

would

Clark

Thomas

daily, often sharing drugs with him.

visit

Thomas,
almost

Thomas also sold drugs to

Clark a few times.
On the morning of November 28, 2007, Thomas asked Joseph
Haley, a friend and co-worker, for a ride to the apartments the
next morning because Thomas wanted to trade some percocet and
methadone pills for fentanyl patches.

When Thomas arrived, he

went to Ponder’s apartment, which was a place where transactions
were regularly made.

Thompson had acquired a batch of fentanyl

patches and brought them to the apartment.

Thompson sold one

patch to Ponder and multiple patches to Thomas.
Leaving

Ponder’s

apartment

together,

Thomas

and

Thompson

walked several doors down toward Clark, who was sitting outside
his apartment. Thompson showed Clark 3-4 fentanyl patches, and
Thomas also displayed at least one patch.

Clark, however, told

the men that he did not have any money.

Thompson nevertheless

decided to sell Clark a patch on credit because Thompson knew
Clark’s girlfriend had a job and could pay him later.
Clark
injected

mixed
the

the

mixture

contents

of

intravenously

the

patch

through

promptly went into respiratory distress.

a

with

alcohol,

syringe,

and

Thomas called 9-1-1

and an ambulance came and transported Clark to the hospital,
where he was treated for a fentanyl overdose.
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Shortly after the ambulance arrived, Thomas called Haley to
ask for another ride, this time from Ponder’s apartment to the
home

of

Barry

overdosed,

and

Duncan.
when

Thomas

Haley

picked

told

Haley

up

Thomas,

trying to hide his patches in Haley’s car.
take them, however.

that

Clark

Thomas

had

started

Haley refused to

Haley dropped Thomas off at Duncan’s house

in the late afternoon that same day.
Duncan, his fiancée Traci McDougal, and Amber Dalton were
at Duncan’s residence when Thomas arrived.
heard about Clark’s fentanyl overdose.

They had already

Thomas showed them his

remaining patches and told them he needed to get rid of them.
Although Duncan had no money, Thomas sold him one for $30 on
credit.

McDougal then saw Thomas and Duncan enter the bathroom,

and she heard Thomas tell Duncan to lift his shirt so Thomas
could stick the patch on Duncan’s back.

According to McDougal,

Thomas told Duncan he could cut the patch and eat the gel if the
patch did not stick.

McDougal, Dalton, and Thomas then drove to

Dalton’s house while Duncan went with his father to a Lowe’s and
later to his parents’ house to have dinner.
When

McDougal

and

Thomas

arrived

to

pick

up

Duncan

and

bring him back to Dalton’s house, Duncan was having difficulty
walking and talking.

Duncan revealed that he had eaten some of

the

patch

gel

because

the

would

not

stick.

Dalton’s residence, Duncan could not stay awake.
5

Then,

back

at

McDougal was

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concerned and started to call 9-1-1, but Thomas grabbed her cell
phone and told her there was no need to call—that Duncan would
be fine.
night,

Eventually, McDougal put Duncan to bed.

Duncan

died

of

a

fentanyl

overdose.

During the

When

McDougal

discovered his condition the next morning, Dalton called 9-1-1.
While

EMS

personnel

attempted

Dalton not to say anything.

to

revive

Duncan,

Thomas

told

Thomas also asked McDougal for the

money Duncan owed him for the patch.
A federal grand jury for the Western District of Virginia
subsequently returned an indictment charging Thomas with four
counts:

conspiring with Thompson (from an unknown time until

November 29, 2007) to distribute fentanyl, resulting in death or
serious bodily injury (“Count One”); distributing or aiding and
abetting
which

the

distribution

resulted

in

of

serious

fentanyl
bodily

on

November

injury

28,

(“Count

2007,
Two”);

distributing or aiding and abetting the distribution of fentanyl
on November 28, 2007, resulting in death (“Count Three”); and
distributing morphine on March 5, 2010 (“Count Four”).
U.S.C.A.

§§

846,

841(a)(1),

841(b)(1)(C)

2012); 18 U.S.C.A. § 2 (West 2000).

(West

1999

See 21
&

Supp.

Thomas pled guilty to

Count 4 and proceeded to trial on the remaining counts.
At

the

close

of

the

government’s

case

in

chief,

Thomas

moved unsuccessfully for judgment of acquittal with regard to
each of the three counts.

See Fed. R. Crim. P. 29.
6

Thomas also

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renewed his motion when the government put on rebuttal evidence.
The jury eventually returned a verdict of guilty on each count.
In

calculating

his

advisory

sentencing

range

under

the

Guidelines, the district court grouped the three offenses, see
U.S.

Sentencing

Guidelines

Manual

employed a base offense level of 38.
the

court

justice.

added

a

two-point

§ 3D1.2(d)

and

Over a defense objection,

enhancement

See U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1.

(2010),

for

obstruction

of

With a total offense level of

40 and a criminal history category of III, Thomas’s advisory
guidelines range was 360 months to life.

Ultimately, the court

sentenced

Thomas

to

300

months,

stating

that

it

sentenced

Thomas

to

240

months

but

the

obstruction-of-

for

would

have

justice enhancement.

II.
Thomas

first

argues

that

the

district

court

erred

in

denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal on Count One.

We

agree.
We review de novo the denial of a motion for judgment of
acquittal.

See United States v. United Med. & Surgical Supply

Corp., 989 F.2d 1390, 1401-02 (4th Cir. 1993).

When addressing

a

must

sufficiency-of-the-evidence

evidence
inquire

in

the

whether

light
any

challenge,

most

favorable

rational

trier
7

of

“[w]e
to

the

fact

view

the

government

and

could

find

the

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essential

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elements

of

the

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crime

beyond

a

reasonable

doubt.”

United States v. Wilson, 118 F.3d 228, 234 (4th Cir. 1997).
In order to prove a conspiracy to distribute narcotics, the
government must establish that “(1) an agreement to possess with
intent to distribute [narcotics] existed between two or more
persons; (2) [the defendant] knew of the conspiracy; and (3)
[the defendant] knowingly and voluntarily became part of the
conspiracy.”
2008).

United States v. Reid, 523 F.3d 310, 317 (4th Cir.

The government may prove a conspiracy by circumstantial

evidence,

including

evidence

of

a

“tacit

or

understanding” between the defendant and his accomplice.

mutual
United

States v. Ellis, 121 F.3d 908, 922 (4th Cir. 1997) (internal
quotation

marks

omitted).

Evidence

showing

a

buyer-seller

relationship is not sufficient by itself to establish a drugdistribution conspiracy.
480,

485

(4th

Cir.

See United States v. Mills, 995 F.2d
1993).

However,

“evidence

of

any

understanding reached as part of the buy-sell transaction that
either party will engage in or assist in further distribution is
sufficient to prove . . . a conspiracy.”
Edmonds,

2012

WL

1592978,

at

*5

(4th

United States v.

Cir.

May

8,

2012).

Additionally, we have held that evidence of a continuing buyerseller relationship coupled with evidence of large quantities of
drugs, or “continuing relationships and repeated transactions”

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can create a reasonable inference of an agreement.

Reid, 523

F.3d at 317.
We agree with Thomas that the evidence in this case shows
only a buyer-seller relationship between Thomas and Thompson.
The government showed only that Thomas made one small purchase
of fentanyl patches from Thompson.

It offered no evidence of an

ongoing

two.

purchase,

relationship
the

only

between

the

evidence

linking

Besides
Thomas

the

and

single
Thompson

concerned their proximity to one another during the one day when
the sales at issue in this case were made:

After Thomas and

Ponder obtained their patches from Thompson, both Thomas and
Thompson walked straight toward Clark and offered to sell him
fentanyl patches.
The government contends that the evidence that Thomas may
have bartered with Thompson for fentanyl with Thomas’s own pills
as opposed to simply paying cash is evidence of a conspiratorial
relationship.

However, we do not see how this fact is evidence

of a conspiracy.

See United States v. Kincannon, 567 F.3d 893,

897 (7th Cir. 2009) (“An agreement to exchange drugs for money
(or something else of value) – the crux of the buyer-seller
transaction – is insufficient to prove a conspiracy.” (emphasis
added)).
The

government

also

maintains

that

Thomas’s

attempts

to

find fentanyl buyers in Smokey Ridge and the fact that “Thomas
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and Thompson jointly approached Clark and offered patches for
sale” is evidence of a conspiracy.
However, there

was

no

basis

for

Appellee’s brief at 14.

a

reasonable

inference

that

Thomas’s attempts to identify people interested in purchasing
patches were for any purpose other than to sell the patches that
Thomas, himself, had purchased.

That Thomas and Thompson may

have shopped their respective wares to Clark at the same time
does

not

give

rise

to

a

reasonable

inference

reached any agreement, tacit or otherwise.

that

they

had

The district court

therefore erred in denying Thomas’s motion for a judgment of
acquittal on the conspiracy count.

III.
Thomas

next

maintains

that

the

district

court

erred

in

denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal on Count Two, in
which

the

government

sought

to

prove

that

Thomas

aided

and

abetted Thompson’s distribution of a fentanyl patch to Clark.
We agree.
“To prove the crime of aiding and abetting the government
must show that the defendant knowingly associated himself with
and participated in the criminal venture.”
Winstead,

708

defendant’s
insufficient.

F.2d

mere

925,

927

presence

(4th
at

the

Cir.

United States v.

1983).

scene

of

Showing
a

the

crime

is

See United States v. Spoone, 741 F.2d 680, 686
10

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(4th

Doc: 38

Cir.

Filed: 07/25/2012

1984).

affirmative

Rather,

participation

Pg: 11 of 18

the
which

government
at

must

principal offender to commit the offense.”

some

encourages

least

“show

the

United States v.

Kelly, 552 F.3d 824, 831 (D.C. Cir. 2009) (internal quotation
marks omitted).
The

government

maintains

that

Thomas

assisted

Thompson’s

distribution of fentanyl to Clark by purchasing fentanyl from
Thompson, offering to sell to Branscom, and approaching Clark
jointly with Thompson.
Count

One,

however,

As we have explained with regard to

there

is

no

basis

in

the

record

for

a

reasonable inference that Thomas’s actions were for any purpose
other than to facilitate his own sale of his own patches.
does

it

even

appear

that

Thomas’s

actions

regarding

Nor
Clark

assisted Thompson in any way in making the sale.

IV.
Thomas next maintains that the district court abused its
discretion

in

refusing

his

requested

aiding

and

abetting

instruction on Count Three, which pertained to the sale of a
fentanyl patch to Duncan.
The

defense

theory

We disagree.
at

trial

was

that

Duncan

bought

the

patch that killed him from Thompson at Smokey Ridge rather than
from

Thomas

testimony

at

from

Duncan’s
Amber

house.

Dalton

that
11

This
Thomas

theory
and

was

Duncan

based

on

left

the

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Doc: 38

for

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minutes

before

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returning

and

going

into

bathroom together to stick the patch on Duncan’s back.

the

Based on

this theory, the defense argued that Thompson’s distribution of
the patch to Duncan would have completed the crime and that one
cannot aid and abet an already-completed crime.
requested

that

the

court

instruct

the

jury

Thus, Thomas

that

“[a]

person

cannot be guilty of aiding or abetting a completed crime.”
563.

J.A.

The district court did not include this specific language

in its charge.

However, the court instructed the jury:

In order to be found guilty of aiding and
abetting the . . . crimes charged in Counts Two and
Three . . . , the government must prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that the defendant:
One, knew that the crimes charged
committed or were being committed;

were

to

be

Two, knowingly did some act for the purpose of
aiding the commission of that crime;
And, three, acted with the intention of causing
the crimes charged to be committed.
J.A. 472.
Because the court’s instruction explained that in order to
convict, the jury would need to find that Thomas “knew that the
crimes charged were to be committed or were being committed,”
the charge did not permit the jury to find that Thomas aided and
abetted

after

the

completion

of

the

crime.

Thus,

Thomas’s

request was effectively covered by the court’s instructions.

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V.
Thomas next contends that the district court abused its
discretion by denying his motion to exclude evidence that he
distributed

drugs

other

than

fentanyl

and

“ripped

off”

drug

purchasers.
Thomas moved unsuccessfully under Federal Rule of Evidence
404(b) to exclude any evidence that he had distributed drugs
other than fentanyl, such as morphine.

However, the district

court overruled Thomas’s objections and allowed the admission of
such

evidence.

Thomas

For

supplied

example,

him

with

co-worker
pain

Haley

pills

in

testified

that

exchange

for

transportation from time to time, and Steven West, a neighbor
who

helped

Clark

after

he

overdosed

on

the

fentanyl

patch,

testified that Thomas sold him pain drugs 10-15 times in the six
months prior to the overdose.

Thomas also moved unsuccessfully

to exclude evidence that he was a dishonest drug dealer.
testified

that

he

stopped

buying

drugs

from

Thomas

West

because

Thomas “ripped [him and others] off on several occasions.”

J.A.

118.
Even assuming arguendo that such evidence was erroneously
admitted, its admission was harmless as to Count Three.
United

States

(explaining

v.

that

Forrest,
the

429

improper

F.3d

73,

81

admission

(4th
of

Cir.

evidence

See
2005)
“is

harmless, if viewing the record as a whole, it is clear beyond a
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reasonable doubt that the jury would have returned a verdict of
guilty

absent

quotation

the

marks

[improperly

omitted)).

admitted

McDougal

evidence]”

testified

(internal

that

she

saw

Thomas agree to give Duncan the fentanyl patch on credit; she
then saw the two proceed into the bathroom; and she heard Thomas
in

the

bathroom

explaining

placed it on Duncan’s back.

to

Duncan

about

the

patch

as

he

Ponder also testified that Thomas

admitted to him that Thomas gave the patch to Duncan.
Unlike
Thomas

McDougal,

agree

to

sell

Dalton
Duncan

did
a

not

testify

patch,

and,

that

she

during

heard

closing

arguments, defense counsel made much of the fact that Dalton
testified that Thomas and Duncan left the house for 15 minutes
before returning and going into the bathroom together.

Counsel

urged the jury to credit Dalton’s testimony and infer that in
that 15 minutes, Thomas drove with Duncan to Smokey Ridge, less
than a mile away, so that Duncan could purchase a patch from
Thompson.

This theory of course begged the question of why

Thomas would not have simply sold Duncan one of the patches he
had shown to McDougal, Dalton, and Duncan.

The defense argued

that those patches were for Thomas’s own use and that he would
not have wanted to part with them.

That theory, however, was at

odds with another part of Dalton’s testimony in which she stated
that Thomas had been nervous because of Clark’s overdose and
that he had displayed his patches and said that he “needed to
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get rid of them.” 2

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J.A. 222.

In the absence of any viable

defense theory regarding Count Three, we conclude that Thomas
was

not

prejudiced

by

any

error

in

the

admission

of

the

complained-of evidence.

VI.
Thomas finally argues that the district court erroneously
enhanced his sentencing guidelines offense level for attempted
obstruction

of

justice.

In

light

of

our

holding

that

the

district court erred in failing to grant Thomas’s motion for a
judgment of acquittal on Counts One and Two, we vacate Thomas’s
sentence and remand for resentencing.

Nevertheless, for the

sake of judicial economy, we will address the obstruction-ofjustice issue.
We review a district court’s application of an obstructionof-justice enhancement for clear error.

See United States v.

Blauvelt, 638 F.3d 281, 293 (4th Cir. 2011).
the

district

court

did

not

clearly

err

We conclude that
in

applying

the

enhancement.
Evidence
jailed

prior

presented

at

to

with

trial

sentencing
an

2

inmate

showed
named

that
Sean

Thomas

was

Robertson;

Indeed, Dalton testified that she assumed that Thomas and
Duncan were making some sort of drug deal when they went into
the bathroom together.

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Robertson learned that his girlfriend Shameke Moore was on the
jury panel as a potential juror in Thomas’s case and revealed
this

information

to

Thomas;

and

Thomas

then

suggested

that

Robertson contact Moore and gave him suggestions to convince
Moore to adopt Thomas’s view of the case.
Robertson later called Moore, summarized the case against
Thomas, and explained why Moore should vote not guilty.

He even

suggested that there might be some money in it for Moore.

Moore

told Robertson that she was “onboard” and would vote in Thomas’s
favor.
Robertson

J.A.
to

634.
see

Thomas

whether

subsequently

Moore

would

followed

vote

with

acquit

to

up

him.

Robertson told him that Moore had said that she would.
During jury selection, Moore did not reveal to the court
that

she

had

discussed

the

case

before

or

that

she

had

a

personal interest in it even when specifically asked whether she
had read or talked to anyone about the case.

Moore ended up not

being selected to serve on Thomas’s jury, however.
Under

United

States

Sentencing

Guidelines

§ 3C1.1,

the

court must enhance the defendant’s offense level by two if it
finds that the defendant “willfully obstructed or impeded, or
attempted to obstruct or impede, the administration of justice
with respect to the investigation, prosecution, or sentencing of
the

instant

offense

of

conviction.”

Application

Note

4(A)

specifically states that “unlawfully influencing a . . . juror,
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directly or indirectly, or attempting to do so” is conduct that
qualifies for an obstruction enhancement.

U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 cmt.

n.4(A).
Thomas argues that since any attempt by him to influence
Moore was oral, rather than written, it was not unlawful because
it was not prohibited by 18 U.S.C.A. § 1504 (West 2000).
government

responds

correctly,

however,

that

regardless

The
of

whether it was unlawful under § 1504, it clearly was unlawful
under

18

U.S.C.A.

§ 1503(a)

(West

2000),

which

proscribes

“corruptly . . . endeavor[ing] to influence . . . any . . .
petit juror . . . in the discharge of his duty.”
Thomas suggests that the district court clearly erred in
finding that any attempt by him to influence Moore was corrupt.
Certainly, however, the evidence supported the conclusion that
Thomas attempted to use Robertson to persuade Moore to vote for
Thomas’s acquittal.
Moore
sense.

would

conceal

That Thomas’s plan included the fact that
Robertson’s

overtures

is

simple

common

Without such concealment, after all, Moore clearly could

never be seated on the jury.

The district court was thus on

firm ground in applying the enhancement.

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VII.
In

sum,

convictions

for

on

the

Counts

foregoing
One

and

reasons,
Two,

we

affirm

reverse
his

Thomas’s

conviction

on

Count Three, vacate his sentence, and remand for resentencing.

AFFIRMED
REVERSED
VACATED
AND

18

IN PART,
IN PART,
IN PART,
REMANDED