United States v. Manu Patel

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Manu Patel of four counts of violating federal narcotics law in connection with the importation from India of a ton of hashish having a street value of at least $4 million. The judge sentenced him to seventeen years and six months in prison. The appeal raises a number of issues but the only one that merits discussion is whether Patel was still a member of the conspiracy to import and distribute the hashish at the time his principal co-conspirator, Sheth, made statements that were recorded and later admitted into evidence against Patel; Sheth did not…