United States v. Raymond J. Powell

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge WILLIAMS.

STEPHEN F. WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge:

On April 8, 1989 Raymond Powell approached an undercover police officer in the 3600 block of 6th Street in Southeast Washington and offered him “a 20 rock” (i.e., a $20 rock of cocaine base). The officer said that he wanted “a 50”, and Powell responded that he could “get the 50 from my man downstairs.” After giving a prearranged signal to his back-up team, the officer followed Powell down a flight of stairs into the basement of an apartment building. There he found three men awaiting him. One, Billy…