United States v. Lewis

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction of one count of conspiracy to distribute a mixture or substance containing heroin and furanylfentanyl resulting in death and serious bodily injury and one count of the substantive crime. The court held that the evidence was sufficient to support the conspiracy conviction; the sentencing enhancement found in USSC 841(b)(1)(C) was sustainable on the record where expert testimony provided by medical professionals established beyond a reasonable doubt that two individuals would not have overdosed and would not have died but-for the use of the drugs; and nothing in Burrage v. United States, 571 U.S. 204, 210 (2014), or the plain language of the statute limits responsibility to only the last person to distribute the drug before the harm occurs. View "United States v. Lewis" on Justia Law