11th Cir. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) O102.1

Criminal Enterprise

21 U.S.C. § 848

It’s a Federal crime for anyone to participate in a continuing criminal

enterprise involving controlled substances.

[Title 21 United States Code Section 841 (a)(1) makes it a crime for anyone

to knowingly possess [substance] with intent to distribute it.]

[Title 21 United States Code Section 952 makes it a crime for anyone to

knowingly import [substance] into the United States from some place outside the

United States].

The Defendant can be found guilty of this crime only if all the following

facts are proved beyond a reasonable doubt:

(1) the Defendant violated the narcotics law[s] charged in count[s]

____;

(2) the violation[s] [was] [were] a part of a continuing series of

violations;

(3) the Defendant participated in the continuing series of violations

together with at least five other people for whom the Defendant

was an organizer, supervisor, or manager; [and]

(4) the Defendant got substantial income or resources from the

continuing series of violations[.] [; and]

[(5) the Defendant was a principal administrator, organizer, or leader

of the enterprise, and [the weight of the [substance] involved in

the crime was at least [threshold]] [the enterprise received at least

$10 million in gross receipts in any 12-month period of its

existence].]

A “continuing series of violations” means proof of at least three related

violations of the Federal controlled -substances laws, as charged in count[s] _____

of the indictment, plus proof that the violations were connected as related, ongoing

activities rather than isolated or disconnected acts. And you must unanimously

agree on which three [or more] violations the Defendant committed.

The Government must prove that the Defendant engaged in the “continuing

series of violations” with at least five other people. It doesn’t matter whether those

persons are named in the indictment or whether the same five or more people

participated in each crime, or participated at different times.

The Government must also prove that the Defendant was an organizer,

supervisor, or manager, and either organized or directed the activities of the others.

In other words, the Defendant must have been more than a mere fellow worker. It

doesn’t matter whether the Defendant was the only organizer or supervisor or

whether the Defendant delegated authority to a subordinate and didn’t have

personal contact with each of the people whom [he] [she] organized, supervised, or

managed through directions given to someone else.

The Government must prove that the Defendant obtained “substantial

income or resources” from the continuing series of violations. “Substantial income

or resources” means significant sizes or amounts of money or property, but not

necessarily any profit, that the Defendant received from the crimes, not some

relatively insubstantial, insignificant, or trivial amounts or sizes.