Jose Espinoza Lopez

State:  North Carolina
Offense:  Trafficking in Cocaine by Possession of 400 grams or more; Possession with Intent to Sell or Deliver Cocaine; Conspiracy to Traffic Cocaine
Priors:  Received periods of probation for Possession of Controlled Substance (1991, 1994, 1998) 
Date of Birth:  1968 
Date of Sentencing:  2001 

José came to the United States in 1990 to take a job at a sawmill in California in order to send money home to his family in Mexico.  He worked hard and eventually relocated with his wife of 11 years and their three children to Reading, Pennsylvania, where he worked at an auto mechanic shop to earn a living.  José traveled from Pennsylvania to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to attend a friend’s wedding. When one of the other wedding guests, whom José had never met before, could not rent a hotel room because he did not have valid identification, José rented the guest a room in his own name.  Unbeknownst to José, his name was immediately turned over to police when he rented the room.  Evidently, local authorities had instructed hotel managers to notify them when Hispanics from out of state rented a room without first making a reservation, paid in cash, and declined maid service—a description José matched perfectly.   

Officers observed the room José had rented for four days and witnessed two unknown Hispanic men, who were also staying at the hotel, drop a duffel bag off on the side of the highway.  These men also exchanged a suspicious bag with the wedding guest staying in the room José had rented.  The three men were immediately apprehended, and police discovered 400 grams of cocaine in their hotel rooms and bags. Just as police were arresting the three men, José arrived in the hotel parking lot and was also arrested, since the hotel room was registered in his name.  Although others had only seen José visit the room he had rented for the wedding guest once in the four days in question, he was also held accountable for the 400 grams of cocaine.  While José claims that he was not involved in drug trafficking and had never even met the other two men, one of the men alleged that José and the wedding guest José had helped had organized the entire drug deal.  With limited English comprehension and no help from an interpreter, José and the wedding guest he had helped went to trial and were found guilty and sentenced to 175-219 months. 

Since being incarcerated, José and his wife have divorced, and his children have been unable to visit him due to his distance from Pennsylvania.  José tries to make the most of his time spent in prison.  He is currently taking a GED course and has completed the English as a Second Language course.

What do you think José’s sentence should have been?
In North Carolina, trafficking over 400 grams of cocaine is a Class D felony and requires a minimum sentence of 175 months and a maximum sentence of 219 months.  Without the mandatory penalties, José would have had a category I criminal history and would have received a presumptive guideline sentence of 51-64 months.  The wedding guest José had helped and one of the other men arrested received identical sentences of 175-219 months.  The man who informed authorities that José and the wedding guest he had helped had orchestrated the drug deal received a 36-month (3 years) sentence.  José received 188 months (15 years, 8 months).