Does a guilty plea prevent a defendant from denying his involvement in a conspiracy to distribute or distribute cocaine?

We are aware that decisions in other circuits have on occasion treated guilty pleas as admitting factual allegations in the indictment not essential to the government's proof of the offense. Compare United States v. Tolson, 988 F.2d 1494, 1501 (7th Cir.1993) (holding that plea to multi-defendant conspiracy charge bars defendant from denying his involvement from the date of commencement of the conspiracy alleged in the indictment); United States v. Eaves, 849 F.2d 363, 365 (8th Cir.1988) (holding, without citation of authority, that guilty plea to indictment charging mail fraud scheme involving 135 victims precluded defendant from claiming at sentencing that fewer victims were involved) with United States v. Silvers, 84 F.3d 1317, 1320 (10th Cir.1996), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 742, 136 L.Ed.2d 680 (1997) (holding that guilty plea to indictment charging distribution of 1,000 marijuana plants did not establish amount of marijuana involved for sentencing purposes where defendant had specifically reserved the issue on entering his plea); see also United States v. Parker, 874 F.2d 174, 177-78 (3d Cir.1989) (holding that where indictment and plea agreement specified value of packages taken, entry of guilty plea conclusively

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We decline to follow the reasoning of Tolson and Eaves, being persuaded that the better reasoning limits the effect of a guilty plea to an admission of the facts essential to the validity of the conviction. The appropriate course is not, as the government argues, for the defendant to "delete this [overt] act from the guilty plea," but rather, for the government at the plea colloquy to seek an explicit admission of any unlawful conduct which it seeks to attribute to the defendant. Having failed to do so, the government must follow the normal procedure of proving relevant conduct at sentencing by a preponderance of the evidence. Cf. United States v. Gilliam, 987 F.2d 1009, 1014 (4th Cir.1993) (holding that a plea to an indictment charging a 28-member conspiracy involving possession with intent to distribute or distribution of 30 kilograms of cocaine did not relieve the government of proving at sentencing the amount attributable to the defendant).