U.S. v. Mendoza

• Decision Date: 10 August 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-3323.,05-3323.
• Citation: 457 F.3d 726
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Christian MENDOZA, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

457 F.3d 726

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Christian MENDOZA, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 05-3323.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued April 19, 2006.

Decided August 10, 2006.

Stephen A. Kubiatowski (argued), Office of the United States Attorney, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Robert L. Rascia, Pablo DeCastro (argued), Serpico, Novelle & Navigato, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before COFFEY, EASTERBROOK, and MANION, Circuit Judges.

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

On July 18, 2005, Christian Mendoza was sentenced to 108 months' imprisonment for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 95 kilograms of cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). On appeal, he argues that he was entitled to a reduction in his sentence, asserting that he was only a minor participant in a drug conspiracy, see U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(a)(3), § 3B1.2(b). He also contends that he should have received a non-guidelines sentence based on the disparity between his sentence and that of his fellow coconspirator, Santos Fernandez Quinonez, see 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Affirmed.

I. BACKGROUND

Mendoza and his codefendants—Welsi Luna-Salvador, Canuto Payan, and Quinonez—were involved in a scheme to transport a shipment of cocaine across the country from San Bernadino, California to a buyer in Chicago, Illinois known as "Alfaro." According to Mendoza, Luna was hired by the seller, known as "Rox," and was responsible for the transport of the cocaine from California to Illinois. Luna, in turn, contracted the job of transporting the drugs to Quinonez, a truck driver. After doing so, Luna received a phone call from Rox, informing him of the location of the white truck containing the shipment of cocaine. Luna located the truck and drove it to the predetermined meeting place in San Bernadino, California, where he turned it over to Quinonez and Payan, who was assigned to assist Quinonez in transferring the drugs to Illinois.¹

Upon receiving the cocaine from Luna, Quinonez and Payan set out to transport the shipment in a semi-tractor trailer. Just outside of St. Louis, the truck was pulled over by Illinois State Troopers during a routine traffic stop.² Thereafter, Quinonez and Payan consented to a search of the vehicle and the cocaine was discovered, resulting in the two men being placed under arrest and taken into custody. During the course of questioning, Quinonez and Payan admitted their involvement in the conveyance of the drugs and agreed to cooperate with the investigation and participate in a controlled delivery of the cocaine to Luna. While under surveillance by law enforcement officials, Quinonez and Payan met Luna at a gas station near Interstate 80, just outside of Chicago. It was at this point that the two men handed the drugs over to Luna, who, upon receipt, was arrested, taken into custody and questioned.

Like Quinonez and Payan, Luna admitted his involvement in the drug scheme and agreed to cooperate. Pursuant to his agreement with the officers, Luna made contact with Alfaro, the purchaser of the drugs, and arranged for the delivery of the shipment to Mendoza at a restaurant in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Upon arrival at the restaurant, Luna gave Mendoza the keys to a Lincoln Navigator containing the cocaine. Thereafter, Mendoza drove the drug-loaded vehicle to an apartment in Bensenville, Illinois, where, as directed (by Alfaro), he left the vehicle in the designated parking lot. Unfortunately for Mendoza, the police were monitoring the entire transaction, and Mendoza was placed under arrest as he exited the vehicle and promptly taken into custody.

Mendoza was subsequently charged with, and plead guilty to, conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 95 kilograms of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Pursuant to the plea agreement, each of the parties referred to heretofore reserved the right to argue the length of the sentence imposed.³ At sentencing, Mendoza requested that the trial judge reduce his offense level two points, arguing that he was only a minor participant in the conspiracy. See U.S.S.G § 3B1.2(b). He asserted that he was entitled to such a reduction because his participation in the drug conspiracy was only that of a courier and that he transported the drugs a much shorter distance than his codefendant.⁴ The district court disagreed and denied his request, finding that the actual distance Mendoza physically transported the cocaine was irrelevant. Rather, the district judge reasoned that Mendoza's prior contacts with the mastermind, Alfaro (including his direct hiring by Alfaro), along with the fact that he was entrusted with the task of delivering the drugs directly to Alfaro, certainly evinced a close relationship between the two and thus supported the judge's conclusion that Mendoza was not a minor participant. Indeed, the court specifically noted that Mendoza had more than a passing relationship with Alfaro, while Quinonez and Payan were mere "intermediary couriers." Mendoza was sentenced to 108 months' imprisonment to be followed by five years' supervised release.⁵

Mendoza filed a motion on July 22, 2005 for reconsideration of his sentence in light of the disparity between his and Quinonez's sentences. The district judge denied Mendoza's motion, confirming his earlier finding that Mendoza and Quinonez were not similarly situated based on Mendoza's close, personal relationship with Alfaro. Mendoza appealed and we affirm.

II. DISCUSSION

A. MINOR PARTICIPANT REDUCTION UNDER § 3B1.2(b)

On appeal Mendoza argues that he was not an integral part of the drug conspiracy, but only a courier, and as such, was entitled to a minor participant reduction under U.S.S.G, § 3B1.2(b). In support of his argument, Mendoza contends that "he could have been replaced by anyone old enough to drive [a car]." He avers that this is confirmed by the short distance he was directed to transport the drugs, approximately twenty-five miles, as opposed to his codefendants who drove the drugs across the country from California to Illinois, a distance of almost 2,000 miles.

"The district court's determination concerning the defendant's [participation] in the offense is a finding of fact, subject to a clearly erroneous standard of review on appeal." United States v. Hankton, 432 F.3d 779, 793 (7th Cir.2005) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). When seeking a minor participant classification it is the defendant's burden to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that he was "substantially less culpable" than the other participants. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b), comment. (n.3(A)); United States v. Corral, 324 F.3d 866, 874 (7th Cir.2003). "Clear error exists only if, after reviewing the evidence, we are left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed," United States v. Arocho, 305 F.3d 627, 641 (7th Cir.2002), and we will rarely reverse a district court's denial of a petitioner's request for a minor participant reduction. See United States v. Rodriguez-Cardenas, 362 F.3d 958, 959 (7th Cir.2004) (citing Corral, 324 F.3d at 874; Arocho, 305 F.3d at 641; United States v. Castillo, 148 F.3d 770, 776 (7th Cir.1998); cf. United States v. Hunte, 196 F.3d 687, 694-95 (7th Cir.1999)).

We have previously discussed the unique and essential role couriers play in drug conspiracies:

couriers are an indispensable part of drug dealing networks. Without somebody to take the drugs across the border, the drugs will never reach their illicit market.... [E]ven if the defendant were purely a courier having no knowledge of the other aspects of the drug-dealing operation, the defendant might nonetheless be a highly culpable participant in the operation. A courier who willingly undertakes illegal transit without asking many questions is especially valuable to a criminal organization. When police apprehend [] a studiously ignorant courier, the organization can rest comfortably, knowing that its other operations remain hidden from the law.

United States v. Osborne, 931 F.2d 1139, 1158 (7th Cir.1991) (emphasis in original) (quoting United States v. Buenrostro, 868 F.2d 135, 138 (5th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 495 U.S. 923, 110 S.Ct. 1957, 109 L.Ed.2d 319 (1990)). See also United States v. Nobles, 69 F.3d 172, 184 (7th Cir.1995) (concluding that couriers are "crucial to the success of a drug trafficking operation."). "The mere fact that a defendant is a courier in a drug-smuggling operation does not entitle that defendant to be classified as a minimal participant." See Osborne, 931 F.2d at 1158 (quoting United States v. Calderon-Porras, 911 F.2d 421, 423-24 (10th Cir.1990)) (internal quotations omitted).

In his brief, Mendoza acknowledges our precedent; but in spite of this, he argues that since he transported the drugs a far shorter distance than his codefendants he was only a minor participant in the conspiracy. We disagree.

The distance each member of a drug conspiracy transports the drugs is not per se indicative of his level of involvement in the conspiracy. See United States v. Johnson, 248 F.3d 655, 666 (7th Cir.2001) (stating that "determining one's role in the offense is a fact-based inquiry"); see also United States v. Garcia, 920 F.2d 153, 155 (2d Cir.1990) (noting that "the culpability of a defendant courier must depend necessarily on [several] factors"). Instead, an examination of each codefendant's total role in the criminal offense provides a much more thorough insight into their responsibility as well as position in the conspiracy and, indeed, is required under the guidelines. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2. One of the factors that sentencing judges should examine while assessing a defendant's role in a criminal enterprise is the defendant's relationship with the enterprise's principal members. See United States v. Shonubi, 998 F.2d 84, 90 (2d Cir.1993) (stating that "[a] sentencing court's assessment of the defendant's role in criminal activity is highly fact-specific and...