United States v. Sykes

In 2011, Faulkner, a high-ranking member of the Imperial Insane Vice Lords, was prosecuted for heroin distribution that occurred in 2007-2008, and for heroin found in his apartment. Following his arrest, Faulkner debriefed extensively with federal agents, explaining his role in the gang, their drug distribution activities, and the identities and roles of other gang members. He pled guilty to two counts of using a telephone to facilitate drug crimes. In 2013, while Faulkner was in prison, the government indicted him again, with 10 other defendants, including Sykes, for drug trafficking through the gang’s organization or within its territory. Sykes was not a member of the gang but a street-level seller. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the convictions of both defendants, Sykes’ 195-month sentence, and Faulkner’s 30-year sentence. The court rejected Faulkner’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence; his claim that he withdrew from the conspiracy as of the time of his arrest; his claim that his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation was violated by the admission of hearsay statements from alleged co-conspirators; and his argument that his Fifth Amendment right to be free from double jeopardy was violated by the two prosecutions. The court found Sykes’ above-Guidelines sentence reasonable under the Section 3553(a) factors. View "United States v. Sykes" on Justia Law