UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. MARIO ALBERTO MONDRAGON
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Niemeyer, June 21, 2017,
Sentencing- A defendant’s sentence could be enhanced for possession of a firearm based on a co-conspirator’s PSI statement that, during the years of the conspiracy, he had at one point seen the defendant clean a pistol.

Facts: Mondragon was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine after a federal jury trial in North Carolina. At sentencing, the judge increased his sentence because a co-conspirator made a statement during his pre-sentence investigation (PSI) that he had seen Mondragon take apart a pistol. Another co-conspirator also made a statement, saying that he had seen Mondragon with “at least two handguns” in the past.
Mondragon appealed, arguing that these statements weren’t enough to connect the guns to the conspiracy.

Held: The 4th Circuit disagreed. Because the co-conspirator who saw Mondragon breaking down a pistol only knew Mondragon through the conspiracy, there was enough evidence to show that Mondragon had a firearm in relation to the conspiracy. The other co-conspirator knew Mondragon longer, however, and so his statement that he had seen Mondragon with guns would not have been enough evidence to enhance the sentence.

Sentence Enhancement- A sentence enhancement must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence (slightly more than 50/50).

Sentence Enhancement- Firearm- A firearm enhancement may be applied where the defendant possessed a firearm in connection with the charged crime