CA1: illegal sales of things that do illegal things

US v. Tavares, 04-1432, affirms a conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm and a decision under FRE 404(b) to allow the admission of a tape recorded conversation with a government informant, because it shows that he knew about illegal firearms. The defendant also claims the trial court wrongly concluded that he had reason to believe the assault rifle he sold to the undercover ATF agent would be used or possessed in connection with another felony, but the court upholds, noting that the District Court looked at the “nature of the weapon, the clandestine nature of the sale, and the fact that the sale price of $1800 was more than six times the market value of the weapon.“ (I think this is a little shaky, because it probably means that every sale of contraband might be subject to such an enhancement, given a little advocacy.) A plain-error Booker remand is also denied, because although the judge said “there is no much I can do” he was sentenced in the middle of the guidelines.