151592P.pdf   02/09/2016  United States  v.  Earl Ramos
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  15-1592
                          and No:  15-1602
   U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, Waterloo   
   [PUBLISHED] [Gruender, Author, with Riley, Chief Judge, and Bright, 
   Circuit Judge] 
   Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. The government showed that 
   defendant Mary Ramos knew the specific features of the substance she was 
   selling made it a controlled substance analogue; circumstantial evidence 
   of knowledge is sufficient to satisfy the government's burden and the 
   evidence the government produced showed that defendant: (1) knew she was 
   in possession of an analogue; and(2) understood the pharmacological 
   effects of the substance, i.e., that it produced a "high" similar to a 
   controlled substance; the district court did not err in determining, for 
   the purpose of calculating defendants' offense levels, that the synthetic 
   cannabinoids defendants sold were more like pure THC than an equal 
   quantity of marijuana. Judge Bright, concurring in part and dissenting in 
   part.