United States v. Ervin Jahue Blevins, United States of America v. Joel Amos Mitchell, United States of America v. Dewey Glen Johnson

OPINION

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

Ervin Blevins, Dewey Johnson, and Joel Mitchell appeal their convictions for participation in a drug distribution conspiracy and other drug-related offenses. These convictions came at the end of a complex seven-day trial. As the bases for reversal of the convictions, appellants now allege fourteen separate grounds of error. While we reject thirteen of these grounds as being without merit, we conclude that the introduction into evidence of testimony that six non-testifying co-defendants had pleaded guilty constituted error.

This error must be subjected, however,…