JORGE IVAN ALVAREZ-BOTERO, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Jorge Ivan Alvarez-Botero was convicted of racketeering, cocaine trafficking, and two conspiracy counts. The appellate court reversed his racketeering conviction and one conspiracy conviction based on prior precedent holding that a single overall conspiracy cannot support multiple conspiracy convictions and that a conspiracy conviction cannot be counted as a separate "incident of racketeering conduct" when paired with the underlying trafficking offense.
The court reversed Alvarez-Botero's conspiracy conviction under Count IV and his racketeering conviction under Count I, but affirmed his trafficking convictions and the fifteen-year minimum mandatory sentences. The court held that there was only one overall conspiracy rather than two separate conspiracies, and that a conspiracy conviction cannot serve as an independent "incident of racketeering conduct" when the other incident is the trafficking offense that was the subject of the conspiracy.
[1] A conviction for conspiracy to traffic is insufficient as one of the required "incidents of racketeering conduct" for a racketeering conviction when the other "incident o…
[2] Where the evidence demonstrates a single overall conspiracy involving several criminal acts, convictions for multiple conspiracies are improper.
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“there was but one overall conspiracy involving several criminal acts rather than several conspiracies”
Establishes that multiple alleged conspiracies were in fact a single conspiracy, requiring reversal of one conspiracy conviction
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAlvarez-Botero was convicted of racketeering, trafficking in cocaine, and two counts of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. A codefendant, Howard Ray Cu…
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[*784] COWART, Judge.
The defendant was convicted of racketeering (§ 895.02(1), Fla.Stat.), trafficking in cocaine (§ 893.135, Fla.Stat.) and two counts of conspiracy to traffic in cocaine (§ 893.135(1)(b)(3), Fla.Stat.). The two alleged conspiracies of which this defendant was convicted are the same two alleged conspiracies for which a codefendant, Howard Ray Cutrell, was also convicted. Cut-rell appealed his two conspiracy convictions to this court and we held that there was but one overall conspiracy involving several criminal acts rather than several conspiracies, and reversed one of Cutrell’s conspiracy convictions. See Cutrell v. State, 560 So. 2d 354 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990).
For the same reason we reverse this defendant’s conviction and sentence for conspiracy under Count IV of case number 88-260CF in the circuit court of Volusia County, Florida. We also must reverse the conviction of racketeering (Count I) because such a conviction requires two or more “incidents of racketeering conduct” (§ 895.02(4), Fla.Stat.) and it has been held that a conviction of conspiracy to traffic is insufficient as one of the required “incidents of racketeering conduct” when 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., concur. . § 893.135(1)(b)3, Fla.Stat.
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Citator
Cited By
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Donovan v. State, 572 So. 2d 522 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)…viction. . Our holding leaves room for a resentencing to exceed an original total sentence where an additional new factor justifies it. See Baggett. . The Information is summarized here in very simplified form. . See also Alvarez-Botero v. State, 562 So. 2d 783 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990), a related case.…
Authorities Cited
- State v. Russo, 493 So. 2d 504 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)
- Cutrell v. State, 560 So. 2d 354 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)
- Crews v. State, 537 So. 2d 656 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)