US v. Vincent William

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Motion disposition in opinion--terminating Motion to schedule oral argument [999337060-2] in 13-4467; terminating Motion to withdraw/relieve/substitute counsel [999290740-2] in 13-4467 Originating case number: 3:12-cr-00047-HEH-10 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999346079].. [13-4331, 13-4467]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-4331

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
VINCENT A. WILLIAMS, a/k/a V,
Defendant - Appellant.

No. 13-4467

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
TORRY VON ZENON,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Richmond.
Henry E. Hudson, District
Judge. (3:12-cr-00047-HEH-10; 3:12-cr-00047-HEH-5)

Submitted:

February 26, 2014

Decided:

April 29, 2014

Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, and WILKINSON and KEENAN, Circuit
Judges.

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Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

John F. McGarvey, JOHN F. MCGARVEY, ATTORNEY AT LAW, Glen Allen,
Virginia, for Appellant Vincent A. Williams.
Steven P. Hanna,
Richmond, Virginia, for Appellant Torry Von Zenon.
Dana J.
Boente, Acting United States Attorney, Peter S. Duffey,
Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
ATTORNEY, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Vincent

A.

Williams

(“Vincent”)

(collectively,

“Appellants”)

conspiracy

possess

to

with

appeal
the

and
their

intent

to

Torry

Von

Zenon

convictions
distribute

for
five

kilograms or more of cocaine hydrochloride, see 21 U.S.C. § 846,
and attempting to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine
hydrochloride, see 21 U.S.C. § 846, 18 U.S.C. § 2.

Finding no

error, we affirm.
I.
Appellants
indictment.

were

both

indicted

in

a

first

superseding

They both pleaded not guilty and were convicted

following a jury trial.

Vincent and Zenon were sentenced to 250

months’ and 384 months’ imprisonment, respectively.
challenge

the

convictions.

sufficiency

of

the

evidence

They now

supporting

their

Viewing the evidence presented at trial in the

light most favorable to the government, as we must, see United
States v. Penniegraft, 641 F.3d 566, 571 (4th Cir. 2011), the
record reveals the following.
Vincent’s

stepfather

Dion

Williams

dealer in Richmond, Virginia.

(“Dion”)

was

a

drug

Beginning in January 2012, he

contacted a man named Hiram Alvarez, who lived in California,
concerning Dion’s interest in purchasing a large quantity of
cocaine.

Dion told Alvarez he could raise as much as $2.5

million for the purchase of 100 kilograms of cocaine.
3

Alvarez,

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in

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turn,

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contacted

a

man

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known

to

him

by

the

name

“Jose.”

Unbeknownst to Alvarez or Dion, Jose, whose full name was Jose
Burgueno Urias, was working as a confidential source for the
Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), and Urias reported the
solicitation to the DEA.

The DEA and Urias agreed that Urias

would set up the transaction, even though the drugs would never
actually be delivered.
On that basis, Urias undertook to set up the deal.

Dion

offered to allow Alvarez or his representative the chance to
come

to

the

East

Coast

and

make

the

transaction

Alvarez selected Pedro Santana to be his agent.

with

Dion.

Accordingly,

Urias and Santana, along with one other confidential informant,
flew

into

Richmond,

Virginia

on

January

26,

2012.

Upon

arriving, they rented a car, drove to a Baltimore-area hotel,
and

met

with

Dion

approximately

9:30

apartment

in

a

in

the

a.m.,

gated

early
Dion

complex.

morning
led

the

The

of

January

group

apartment

to
was

27.
a

At

nearby

leased

to

Zenon.
The fact that the apartment was in a gated community made
it

difficult

for

law

enforcement

to

conduct

surveillance.

However, almost immediately after Dion brought Urias and Santana
to

the

apartment,

DEA

Special

Agent

Jason

Alznauer

observed

Zenon standing near the apartment complex’s front gate where he
appeared to be watching cars coming and going through the gates.
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In fact, Alznauer told his partner that he believed Zenon was
conducting counter-surveillance.
skull

cap

and

black

puffy

Zenon was wearing a black knit

jacket.

Zenon

was

observed

soon

thereafter standing at the end of the apartment building talking
on a cellular telephone and then walking around the back of the
building.

Within

a

few

minutes,

a

man

matching

Zenon’s

description was observed at the other corner of the apartment
complex, standing in the middle of the road, looking around.
The meeting inside the apartment lasted less than an hour,
during

which

time

Dion

showed

the

confidential

informants

approximately $300,000 in currency and told them he would need
more time to obtain the rest of the money. 1

At about 10:30 a.m.,

Santana and the confidential informants left the apartment and
returned to the hotel.
Dion later contacted them and they agreed to return to the
apartment around 6:00 p.m.

Approximately 10 minutes before the

men arrived, officers observed a green pickup truck drive into
Zenon’s garage, and they saw Zenon exit the vehicle wearing a
black

puffy

jacket,

a

reflective

vest,

and

a

hardhat.

He

removed a plastic trashbag from the truck and placed it in front

1

When the men went upstairs, they encountered Vincent
sleeping on a sofa.
Dion told Urias not to worry because
Vincent was his son.
Vincent got up and went into the bedroom
and did not come out during that meeting.

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of the garage, then moved the truck out of the garage and parked
it in a parking space nearby.

Zenon next reentered the garage

on foot and shut the outer door.
When

Santana,

Dion,

and

the

informants

arrived

a

few

minutes later, they parked in the same garage and entered the
apartment through stairs from the garage.
in the garage when the men arrived.

Vincent was waiting

Vincent picked up a box

containing a large amount of currency and carried it into the
apartment.
Inside the apartment, Dion, Vincent, the two informants,
and

Santana

spent

about

two

and

a

half

hours

counting

currency, primarily using electronic money counters.
who

already

knew

how

to

“during the entire time.”

operate

the

J.A. 100.

machines,

the

Vincent,

was

helping

In Vincent’s presence,

Dion proceeded to discuss the drug deal and the future dealings
that Dion anticipated.

He specifically noted that Vincent had

not enjoyed studying or working in a restaurant and that the
only

thing

he

did

like

was

“counting

kilos

and

counting

paquetes,” which Urias testified referred to money packages and
cocaine.

J.A.

101.

Urias

testified

that

he

also

had

discussions at that time with Dion about the 100 kilograms of
cocaine that Urias was going to give him in exchange for the
money.

Urias explained that because the cocaine kilograms were

square in shape, he referred to them as “squares.”
6

J.A. 102.

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Urias further testified that Dion had told him at this time that
it would be Vincent who would be coming to the apartment to
receive future cocaine purchases.

Urias testified that Dion had

advised him that they were safe and secure because Dion had
people outside “guarding and to make sure no police came.”

J.A.

104.
As the amount of money the men had counted approached $1.5
million, Urias told Dion that they would begin the process of
retrieving and bringing up the 100 kilograms of cocaine, and
Urias,

Santana,

Shortly

and

thereafter,

the

informant

S.W.A.T.

a

other

team

left

made

the

entry

apartment.
into

the

apartment through the front door and officers executed a search
warrant on the apartment.
Vincent

flee

the

living

The first officer to enter observed
room

to

the

carrying what appeared to be a handgun.

back

of

the

apartment

Officers found Vincent

hiding in a bathroom, and they located a .45 caliber handgun
along the path Vincent had taken toward the bathroom.

Officers

found Dion and Zenon hiding in the pantry in the kitchen.
The officers also found approximately $1.5 million stacked
in

plain

view

on

the

carpet

in

the

living

room;

two

money

counting machines, both of which were turned on, in the kitchen;
a .44 caliber revolver on the kitchen counter near where the
officers had found Zenon; 15 cellular telephones; packing tape
to package the cash; and a black puffy coat, hard hat, and
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reflective vest, matching the description of those that Zenon
had been seen wearing earlier.
II.
A.
Vincent

argues

that

the

evidence

sustain his conspiracy conviction.

was

insufficient

to

We disagree.

The “jury verdict must be sustained if there is substantial
evidence, taking the view most favorable to the Government, to
support it.”
Cir.

1996)

United States v. Burgos, 94 F.3d 849, 862 (4th
(en

banc)

(emphasis

and

internal

quotation

marks

omitted).

“Substantial evidence is evidence that a reasonable

finder

fact

of

could

accept

as

adequate

and

sufficient

to

support a conclusion of a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable
doubt.”

United States v. Green, 599 F.3d 360, 367 (4th Cir.

2010) (internal quotation marks omitted).
“To

prove

distribute,

the

conspiracy

to

Government

possess
must

cocaine

establish

with

intent

that:

(1)

to
an

agreement to possess cocaine with intent to distribute existed
between

two

conspiracy;

or

more

and

persons;

(3)

the

(2)

defendant

became a part of this conspiracy.”
F.3d

291,

omitted).

306

(4th

“Proof

of

Cir.
a

1998)

the

defendant

knowingly

and

knew

of

the

voluntarily

United States v. Wilson, 135
(internal

conspiracy

may

of

quotation
course

marks
be

by

circumstantial evidence; it need not and normally will not be by
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direct evidence.”

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United States v. Mabry, 953 F.2d 127, 130

(4th Cir. 1991) (internal quotation marks omitted).

“Once it

has been shown that a conspiracy exists, the evidence need only
establish

a

slight

connection

between

conspiracy to support conviction.”
F.2d

1138,

1147

(4th

Cir.

the

defendant

and

the

United States v. Brooks, 957

1992).

To

prove

the

crime

of

attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, the
government must establish
that (1) the defendant had the requisite intent to
commit a crime; (2) the defendant undertook a direct
act in a course of conduct planned to culminate in his
commission of the crime; (3) the act was substantial,
in
that
it
was
strongly
corroborative
of
the
defendant’s criminal purpose; and (4) the act fell
short of the commission of the intended crime due to
intervening circumstances.
United States v. Pratt, 351 F.3d 131, 135 (4th Cir. 2003).
Vincent does not dispute that the evidence was sufficient
to show that he agreed to and in fact did intentionally aid Dion
in a criminal undertaking by assisting in counting the currency.
However, Vincent claims that the evidence was not sufficient to
create

a

reasonable

inference

that

he

knew

the

particular

illegal purchase to which the currency was to be put, i.e., that
it was going to be used to purchase cocaine.
Urias

testified

regarding

Dion’s

We disagree.

discussions

with

him

during the approximately two and a half hours that Dion, Urias,
and Vincent spent counting the currency in the apartment.

9

Urias

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testified

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that

Dion

told

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Urias,

in

front

of

Vincent,

that

Vincent had not liked working in a restaurant and studying and
that

the

only

counting

thing

paquetes,”

Vincent
which

packages and cocaine.

liked

Urias

J.A. 101.

was

“counting

explained

referred

kilos
to

and

money

He testified that he also had

discussions at that time with Dion about the cocaine that Urias
was going to give Dion in exchange for the money as well as the
fact

that

apartment
light

of

it
to

would
pick

those

up

be

Vincent

future

discussions,

who

drug
a

would

be

coming

deliveries.
jury

could

to

Especially
have

the
in

reasonably

concluded that Vincent was well aware of the purpose for which
the currency was to be used.
B.
Zenon also maintains that the evidence was insufficient to
support his involvement in the charged crimes.

We disagree.

Zenon was the lessee of the apartment where the initial
meeting and the money counting took place, and he was found in
the kitchen of the apartment hiding with Dion in the pantry
while approximately $1.5 million dollars was stacked up on the
floor of the living area, in plain view.

Additionally, a jury

could reasonably conclude that Zenon had been operating as a
lookout for the morning meeting and that he had been preparing
for

the

afternoon

meeting

when

10

he

arrived

at

the

apartment

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minutes before the informants and backed the truck out of the
garage and parked it in a nearby parking space.
III.
For
affirmed.
legal
before

the

foregoing

reasons,

Appellants’

convictions

are

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and

contentions
this

court

are

adequately

and

argument

presented

would

not

in
aid

the
the

materials
decisional

process. 2
AFFIRMED

2

We have reviewed the additional arguments contained in the
supplemental pro se brief.

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