United States v. Hunte

Cheryl Hunte (defendant) accompanied her boyfriend Joseph Richards, a known drug dealer, on a trip to deliver marijuana from Arizona to New York. Hunte, Richards, and Luis Gonzalez departed in a minivan supplied by Richards. In exchange for seven pounds of marijuana, Gonzales helped drive the minivan. Hunte did not receive any financial benefit. Richards controlled the route used for the journey and also decided to add Jonathan Warwick to the group. When the group reached Tucson, Arizona to collect the drugs, a man escorted them to a house and filled the minivan with marijuana. While Hunte was in the living room watching television, Richards, Gonzalez, and Warwick weighed the marijuana in the kitchen. Richards then cut and sampled one of the marijuana bundles. Hunte later closed the blinds and helped roll buds into a joint so that the group could smoke some of the marijuana. Once the drugs were reloaded in the minivan, the group began the journey to New York with Gonzalez and Warwick in the minivan and Richards and Hunte in another vehicle. While passing through Illinois, police stopped the minivan and discovered the marijuana. Gonzales and Warwick admitted they were following another vehicle, and other officers stopped Richards and Hunte. At the time of the stop, Hunte was driving. Richards, Warwick, Gonzalez, and Hunte were charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Hunte was convicted, and her three co-defendants pled guilty. Hunte appealed on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to support her conviction.