JOHNNY FRANKLIN CREWS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Johnny Franklin Crews appealed his convictions for conspiracy to traffic in marijuana, trafficking in marijuana, and racketeering under Florida's RICO statute. The appellate court affirmed all convictions and sentences, distinguishing the case from State v. Russo by finding that the conspiracy and trafficking charges involved sufficiently different facts to constitute two separate incidents of racketeering activity.
The court affirmed Crews' convictions, holding that the conspiracy and trafficking charges constituted two separate incidents of racketeering activity. Because the charges involved substantially different facts—different numbers of co-conspirators, different geographic areas, and different amounts of marijuana—they properly satisfied the requirement for a pattern of racketeering activity under section 895.02(4), Florida Statutes.
[1] A conspiracy to traffic in a specific quantity of cannabis and the subsequent trafficking in a larger quantity of cannabis can constitute two separate incidents of racket…
[2] A pattern of racketeering activity requires at least two incidents of criminal activity.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Appellant was not charged with conspiracy to traffic in the same cannabis that he was charged with in the trafficking charge.”
Distinguishes the case from Russo and establishes the factual predicate for finding two separate incidents of racketeering activity.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCrews was charged with conspiracy with ten other named individuals between June 1, 1981 and July 31, 1982, across six Florida counties, to traffic in …
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CAMPBELL, Chief Judge.
Appellant appeals his judgment and sentences for conspiracy to traffic in more than one hundred pounds of marijuana, trafficking in more than two thousand pounds of marijuana and racketeering pursuant to the Florida Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), section 895.03(3), Florida Statutes (1981).
We affirm appellant’s convictions and sentences and write only to explain why State v. Russo, 493 So. 2d 504 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986), rev. denied, 504 So. 2d 768 (Fla.1987), as argued by appellant, does not render the racketeering charge fundamentally defective. In Russo, our colleagues held that an indictment charging conspiracy to traffic in cannabis and trafficking in the same cannabis was legally insufficient to charge “two incidents” of racketeering conduct, as required by section 895.02(4), Florida Statutes (1987), to constitute a “pattern of racketeering activity.” Federal authorities, and that of a number of states including Florida, as evidenced by Russo, are in dispute on the issue as addressed by Russo. See Dowd, Interpreting RICO: In Florida, the Rules are Different, 40 U.Fla. L.Rev. 127, 145 (1988).
However, the charges here and the facts offered in support do not require us to decide that issue.
Appellant was not charged with conspiracy to traffic in the same cannabis that he was charged with in the trafficking charge. Appellant was charged in one count of an amended information with conspiracy with ten other named individuals between June 1, 1981 and July 31,1982, in six specifically named counties in Florida, to traffic in cannabis in an amount in excess of one hundred pounds.
The jury found him guilty of that offense. Appellant was also charged with trafficking in cannabis on July 11,1982, in an amount in excess of ten thousand pounds. That trafficking count of the amended information charged appellant jointly with eight of the ten named individuals named in the conspiracy count and further charged that the trafficking offense occurred in only four of the six counties named in the conspiracy count. Appellant was found guilty of trafficking in more than two thousand pounds. Because of the substantial differences in the facts constituting the conspiracy charge and the facts supporting the trafficking charge, they properly constituted two incidents of racketeering activity upon which the jury was able to convict appellant on the charge of racketeering.
AFFIRMED.
RYDER and SCHOONOVER, JJ., concur.
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Alvarez-Botero v. State, 562 So. 2d 783 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)…hen the other “incident of racketeering conduct” is a conviction for the trafficking offense which was the subject of the conspiracy. See State v. Russo, 493 So. 2d 504 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986), rev. denied, 504 So. 2d 768 (Fla.1987). Cf. Crews v. State, 537 So. 2d 656 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989). We affirm the defendant’s other convictions and the imposition of the fifteen year minimum mandatory sentences 1 under Counts II and III of case number 88-260CF. AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part. W. SHARP and GRIFFIN, JJ.,…
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Schremmer v. State, 578 So. 2d 392 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)…er participated in four interrelated ventures over a two-year period involving the importation of drugs into Monroe County. Appellant’s remaining points on appeal are without merit. See State v. DiGuilio, 491 So. 2d 1129 (Fla.1986); Crews v. State, 537 So. 2d 656 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989); Herrera v. State, 532 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Mosley v. State, 402 So. 2d 559 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). Affirmed. . Because we conclude that the co-conspirator’s statements were properly admitted, we likewise conclude that the…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Russo, 493 So. 2d 504 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)