Filed: Jun. 29, 2009
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 08-5249 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. JOEL CHAPARRO, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, at Martinsburg. John Preston Bailey, Chief District Judge. (3:08-cr-00012-JPB-DJJ-2) Submitted: June 1, 2009 Decided: June 29, 2009 Before NIEMEYER and SHEDD, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curia
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 08-5249 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. JOEL CHAPARRO, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, at Martinsburg. John Preston Bailey, Chief District Judge. (3:08-cr-00012-JPB-DJJ-2) Submitted: June 1, 2009 Decided: June 29, 2009 Before NIEMEYER and SHEDD, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 08-5249
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
JOEL CHAPARRO,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern
District of West Virginia, at Martinsburg. John Preston Bailey,
Chief District Judge. (3:08-cr-00012-JPB-DJJ-2)
Submitted: June 1, 2009 Decided: June 29, 2009
Before NIEMEYER and SHEDD, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Sherman L. Lambert, Sr., SHERMAN L. LAMBERT, SR., PLLC,
Shepherdstown, West Virginia, for Appellant. Sharon L. Potter,
United States Attorney, Thomas O. Mucklow, Assistant United
States Attorney, Martinsburg, West Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Joel Chaparro appeals his conviction and thirty-three
month sentence for aiding and abetting the distribution of
cocaine, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 (2006) and 21 U.S.C.
§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C) (2006). Chaparro’s attorney has filed a
brief pursuant to Anders v. California,
386 U.S. 738 (1967),
concluding that there are no meritorious issues for appeal but
challenging the district court’s refusal to provide a jury
instruction on entrapment. Although informed of his right to do
so, Chaparro has not filed a pro se supplemental brief. We
affirm.
We review de novo a district court’s decision to deny
a defendant’s requested instruction on entrapment. United
States v. Ramos,
462 F.3d 329, 334 (4th Cir. 2006). “An
entrapment defense has two elements: (1) government inducement
of the crime and (2) the defendant’s lack of predisposition to
engage in the criminal conduct.”
Id. Before giving an
entrapment instruction, the district court must make a threshold
inquiry as to whether sufficient evidence exists for a
reasonable jury to determine there was entrapment. See
id.
Mere solicitation of a crime is insufficient to merit an
entrapment instruction, as solicitation alone would not persuade
an otherwise innocent person to commit a criminal act. See
id.
“When government agents merely offer an opportunity to commit
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the crime and the defendant promptly avails himself of that
opportunity, an entrapment instruction is not warranted.”
Id.
at 335 (internal quotation marks, citation and alteration
omitted).
In this instance, it is clear that any inducement by
the Government’s confidential informant was mere solicitation,
and did not rise to the level of entrapment. The record shows
that, at the informant’s request, Chaparro immediately sought to
aid an undercover agent, whom Chaparro believed to be the
informant’s brother, in the procurement of cocaine. Though the
informant was undoubtedly friendly toward Chaparro, this fact
had no bearing on Chaparro’s willingness to aid in the
distribution of cocaine. This conclusion is underscored by the
fact that, even without the informant’s involvement, Chaparro
repeatedly organized deals between the undercover agent and a
local drug dealer. Indeed, there was no evidence presented that
could lead a reasonable jury to determine that Chaparro was
anything other than a ready and willing participant in the
crime, and that the informant and the undercover agent merely
offered him the opportunity to engage in criminal conduct.
Accordingly, as Chaparro failed to demonstrate any “lack of
predisposition to engage in the criminal conduct,”
Ramos, 462
F.3d at 334, we find that the district court did not err in
refusing to give an entrapment instruction to the jury.
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In accordance with Anders, we have examined the entire
record in this case and found no meritorious issues for review.
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment. This
court requires that counsel inform his client, in writing, of
his right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States for
further review. If the client requests that a petition be
filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be
frivolous, then counsel may move in this court for leave to
withdraw from representation. Counsel’s motion must state that
a copy thereof was served on the client. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the materials before the court and argument would
not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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