United States v. Pérez-Greaux
| Decision Date | 14 April 2020 |
| Docket Number | Criminal No. 18-389 (FAB) |
| Citation | 454 F.Supp.3d 128 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Luis PÉREZ-GREAUX, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
Victor O. Acevedo-Hernandez, United States Attorneys Office, District of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, for Plaintiff.
Eric A. Vos, Federal Public Defender's Office, Hato Rey, PR, for Defendant.
Before the Court is defendant Luis Pérez-Greaux ("Pérez-Greaux" or "defendant")'s motion for judgment of acquittal pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29. (Docket No. 240.) For the reasons set forth below, Pérez-Greaux's Rule 29 motion, id., is DENIED .
In reviewing a motion for judgment of acquittal, courts "consider[ ] the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution." United States v. Lara, 181 F.3d 183, 200 (1st Cir. 1999) (citations omitted); see United States v. Rodríguez-Marrero, 390 F.3d 1, 6 (1st Cir. 2004). Rule 29 motions require a court to "take into account all evidence, both direct and circumstantial, and resolve evidentiary conflicts and credibility disputes in favor of the jury's verdict." United States v. Valerio, 676 F.3d 237, 244 (1st Cir. 2012). At the same time, the court "must ‘reject those evidentiary interpretations and illations that are unreasonable, insupportable, or overly speculative.’ " United States v. Rodríguez-Martínez, 778 F.3d 367, 371 (1st Cir. 2015) (quoting United States v. Spinney, 65 F.3d 231, 234 (1st Cir. 1995) ).
On June 5, 2018, a grand jury charged Pérez-Greaux with five counts. (Docket No. 71 at p. 1.) Count one charged possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 924(c)(1)(A). Id. Count two charged possession of a machinegun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 924(c)(1)(A) and section 924(c)(1)(B)(ii). Id. at p. 2. Count four charged possession with intent to distribute controlled substances in violation of 21 U.S.C. section 841(a)(1). Id. at p. 3. Two other counts were dismissed at the government's request. (Docket No. 202.)
Trial was held between October 15 and October 18, 2019. (Docket Nos. 222, 223, 227, 230.)
According to the testimony at trial, on May 30, 2018, José Rivera-Vélez ("Rivera"), a member of the Puerto Rico Police Department, began a three-day surveillance of Pérez-Greaux's residence. (Docket No. 250 at pp. 28–29, 33–35.) Pérez-Greaux's residence is in the Los Pinos I subdivision in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Id. at pp. 31, 54.
On June 1, 2018, Rivera saw Pérez-Greaux with a black pistol in his waistband. Id. at pp. 36–37. Rivera then investigated and discovered that Pérez-Greaux did not have a license to legally carry a firearm. Id. at p. 38.
On June 5, 2018, Carlos Pérez-Carrasco ("Pérez-Carrasco") and his colleagues executed a search warrant at Pérez-Greaux's residence. Id. at pp. 53–54. Pérez-Carrasco also works for the Puerto Rico Police Department. Id. at p. 53.
When Pérez-Carrasco first saw the defendant, the defendant was setting up a pool. Id. at p. 55. After Pérez-Carrasco told the defendant that there was a search warrant against him and his residence, the defendant told Pérez-Carrasco not to harm his family and that he would hand over the property inside the residence. Id. The defendant indicated that the property was cocaine inside a safe. Id. at pp. 14, 55. The defendant told the law enforcement officers where the drugs were located from the very beginning. Id. at p. 25. The defendant knew it was cocaine inside the safe because it was given to him by a person known to the defendant to be a drug dealer. Id. at p. 14. This person's name was Alex. Id. at p. 15. The defendant met Alex on trip to Rochester, New York. Id.
The defendant took Pérez-Carrasco to the safe. Id. at p. 55. The safe was in his bedroom. Id. The defendant had to, and did, open the safe with a passcode. Id. at p. 56. Inside the safe were three kilograms of cocaine, a scale, and periodicals about firearms. Id. at pp. 56, 63, 75; see Docket No. 251 at p. 33.
The defendant told Juan Carlos Miranda ("Miranda"), a federal law enforcement special agent, that he had been working as a drug trafficker since March or April of 2018. (Docket No. 250 at pp. 3, 18.) He further explained that he would wrap the cocaine in carbon paper, vacuum seal the drugs, place the drugs into small boxes along with toys and other items, and mail the boxes to the continental United States via the United States Postal Service. Id. at p. 18. The defendant confirmed that Alex was the same person to whom he would send drugs in the continental United States. Id. at p. 20.
After the defendant opened the safe, he told Pérez-Carrasco about a firearm in the closet of his children's bedroom. Id. at p. 26; Docket No. 251 at p. 16. The defendant did not volunteer, and the law enforcement officers did not ask, for what purpose the defendant was using the weapon. (Docket No. 250 at p. 26.)
In the closet Pérez-Carrasco recovered a firearm, ammunition, and five ammunition magazines, including one high capacity magazine. Id. at pp. 62, 70–71. The firearm, ammunition, and magazines were wrapped in a cloth within two paper bags, all of which was inside a plastic bag. (Docket No. 251 at pp. 18–20.) The firearm did not have a magazine attached to it, the magazines were empty, and the ammunition was inside another bag. Id. at p. 20.
Pérez-Carrasco had a little trouble getting the firearm out of the closet. (Docket No. 250 at p. 76; Docket No. 251 at p. 18.) He is five feet, six inches tall, and needed to raise his arm above his head to recover the firearm. (Docket No. 250 at pp. 62, 76.) The firearm seems to have been located on the top shelf of the closet, either on top of a carboard box or behind it. Id. at p. 15; Docket No. 251 at p. 18.
The firearm was a machinegun. (Docket No. 251 at pp. 25–26.) It was modified to fire automatically. Id. at p. 26. Jeffrey T. Browder, a firearms expert, was able to identify that the firearm was a machinegun by looking at it. Id. at pp. 24–30.
Pérez-Carrasco did not know whether the machinegun, ammunition, or magazines were tested for fingerprints. Id. at p. 21. He did not find other materials associated with firearms in the residence, including ammunition, a solution for cleaning the weapon, a rod to clean the barrels, and a cleaning kit for firearms. Id.
The defendant told Miranda that, a few days earlier in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, Alex gave to the defendant the firearm found in the children's bedroom closet and the cocaine found in the safe. (Docket No. 250 at pp. 15–16.) Alex told the defendant, Id. at p. 17. The firearm, according to the defendant's statements to Miranda, was for Alex's protection. Id. When he was speaking with Miranda, the defendant was aware of the ammunition and the magazines. Id. at pp. 16–17.
Later, the defendant changed his story. Id. at p. 19. He told Miranda that he was given the firearm by a friend of his from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Id. The defendant stated that he was very afraid of this friend. Id.
In the defendant's bedroom, Pérez-Carrasco also seized five cellphones. Id. at p. 73. The cellphones contained numerous images, including those of packages sent to Rochester and associated receipts, toys and carbon paper, a "selfie" of the defendant, a white substance in brick shapes wrapped in cellophane, a bundle of currency, and a money transfer. (Docket No. 251 at pp. 51–60.) One of the cellphones also had a contact listing for a person identified as "A" with an area code from Rochester, New York. Id. at p. 62. There were also text messages or images of text messages that appear to relate to drug trafficking. Id. at pp. 63–70.
The person who extracted the photos, images, and messages from the cellphones—Matthew Johnson—was unable to determine who took the photos, who deleted some of the photos, and who used the phone. (Docket No. 252 at pp. 18–19.) He was also unable to identify both the contents of the packages shown in the pictures and the packages associated with the shipping receipts and tracking information. Id. at pp. 20–21. Additionally, Matthew Johnson acknowledged that images of text messaging conversations could have been sent to the cellphones rather than originating on the phone. Id. at p. 22. And he did not see on the cellphones photos of guns or gun-related searches. Id. at pp. 22–23.
The law enforcement officers also seized or identified other items. A holster designed to carry a weapon was seized somewhere in the residence. (Docket No. 250 at p. 73.) They also found a box with an address and postage stamp in the residence. (Docket No. 251 at pp. 10–11.) The box was addressed to Alex at an address in Rochester, New York. (Docket No. 250 at p. 16.) The box had toys and other items inside. (Docket No. 251 at p. 11.) The officers found other boxes tied together in the children's closet. (Docket No. 251 at pp. 10–11.)
Pérez-Carrasco and his colleagues were accompanied by a canine. (Docket No. 250 at p. 58.) According to Pérez-Carrasco, the canine was trained to search for drugs and firearms. Id. The canine "marked" three locations in the residence. Id. at p. 60. The canine marked at the safe in the bedroom, drawers in the bedroom, and the closet in the children's bedroom. Id. The law enforcement officers found approximately $600 in the drawers. Id.
The jury found Pérez-Greaux guilty of counts one, two, and four. (Docket No. 233.)
A court may set aside a jury's guilty verdict and enter a judgment of acquittal of any offense for which the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 29(c). The burden of making the requisite showing falls on the defendant. United States v. Polanco, 634 F.3d 39, 45 (1st Cir. 2011).
A challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence challenge is "a tough sell," id., ...
To continue reading
Request your trial