Marin v. United States, 21718.

Citation352 F.2d 174
Decision Date02 November 1965
Docket NumberNo. 21718.,21718.
PartiesJose Manuel Froylan Diaz MARIN, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

M. Gabriel Nahas, Jr., Houston, Tex., for appellant.

James R. Gough, Asst. U. S. Atty., Houston, Tex., Woodrow Seals, U. S. Atty., William A. Jackson, William B. Butler, Asst. U. S. Attys., Houston, Tex., for appellee.

Before BROWN and COLEMAN, Circuit Judges, and MORGAN, District Judge.

COLEMAN, Circuit Judge.

The Appellant was indicted for the offense of having conspired with Emma Hinojosa, with Adela Gomez de Castillo, and with others to smuggle heroin into the United States, and to conceal and facilitate the transportation of heroin, knowing it to have been unlawfully brought into the United States, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C.A. § 174.1

The formation and operation of the conspiracy was testified to by one of the conspirators, Adela Gomez de Castillo, a Mexican national, married, mother of two children and, during the time in question, a resident of Monterrey, Mexico.

Mrs. Castillo testified that she knew the Appellant as "Willy Oliveira", and that after he had become aware of her family's distressed financial situation. Appellant propositioned her to make trips into the United States in accordance with his instructions. Mrs. Castillo agreed to the proposition and thereafter made two such trips into the United States, the first to Chicago, Illinois, and the second to Houston, Texas.

On the first trip, Adela Castillo said she traveled by bus from Monterrey to Reynosa, Mexico, located on the Mexico-United States border, where she met the Appellant at a private house and received from him further instructions concerning the trip. Appellant furnished Mrs. Castillo several small pieces of paper on which her instructions were written in English on one side and in Spanish on the reverse, covering such things as travel, how to get to the proper hotel, and other details of the trip. The Appellant told Adela Castillo that a suitcase would be delivered to her at a gas stationgarage located in McAllen, Texas, and that she was to carry the suitcase to Chicago. While at the house in Reynosa, the Appellant also gave Mrs. Castillo the key to the suitcase which she would later receive in McAllen.

Thereafter, Mrs. Castillo crossed the border to McAllen, proceeded to the filling station, where a man delivered the suitcase to her, then took a cab to the bus station and there boarded a bus for Houston.

Upon her arrival in Houston, Adela Castillo went to Houston International Airport and bought a round trip ticket from Houston to Chicago, Illinois, and return with money furnished her for such purpose by the Appellant, utilizing the written instructions set forth on the pieces of paper.

Upon her arrival in Chicago, Illinois, Adela Castillo went directly to the LaSalle Hotel in Chicago, where she registered in accordance with her instructions as "Rosa Martin" of 1132 NE 7th Avenue, Miami, Florida.

Mrs. Castillo further testified that after she had checked into the hotel, she received a telephone call at her room between 7:00 and 8:00 p. m. from a Spanish-speaking male saying that someone would arrive at the hotel shortly to pick up the suitcase. Later she received another telephone call from a person speaking poor Spanish who told her to bring the suitcase from the room to the hotel lobby.

Upon arriving in the lobby she met the person later identified as Milton Abramson, also called Milton Bennett, whereupon they paid the hotel bill and checked out of the LaSalle. Together with Abramson she walked out of the hotel, handing the suitcase to Abramson, who in turn placed it in a nearby car which was then driven away. Adela Castillo promptly took a cab back to the Chicago airport and boarded an airplane for Houston.

The records of the LaSalle Hotel Company indicate that "Rosa Martin" checked out of the LaSalle Hotel at 9:12 p. m. on the same day of her arrival, October 10, 1962.

The records of Delta Airlines in evidence also indicate that the return portion of the Houston-Chicago-Houston round trip ticket was turned in and another ticket issued in its place to passenger Castillo for passage on Delta Flight 69N, departing O'Hare Field at Chicago, Illinois, at 12:40 a. m. on October 11, 1962, for Memphis and for passage thence to Houston on Delta Flight 65N. They further show that a refund was made by Delta Airlines check to passenger Castillo of Monterrey, Mexico, in the amount of $14.19, being the difference in ticket prices resulting from this rerouting. This Delta Airlines check is endorsed "Adela Gomez Castillo."

Mrs. Castillo testified that upon arriving in Houston from Chicago, she went directly to the bus terminal and there caught a bus back to McAllen, Texas.

Mrs. Castillo said that the Appellant paid her a total of 7,000 pesos (approximately $560.00) for the first trip, paying her a part of the money in advance and the balance upon her return.2

Thereafter, the appellant asked Adela Castillo to make another trip, this time to Houston, Texas. Accordingly, she traveled from Monterrey, Mexico, to the same house in Reynosa on the border, where she again met the Appellant. The instructions given to her by the Appellant were similar to those for the first trip. Appellant advised her that someone would deliver the suitcase to her in McAllen, Texas, he gave her instructions on pieces of paper as had been done before, and he again gave her the key to the suitcase which she would receive in McAllen. Mrs. Castillo identified the suitcase key given to her by the Appellant for the Houston trip. Appellant told Mrs. Castillo that she would meet the same person in Houston as she had met in Chicago.

Thus, the witness said, she crossed the border and went to the same McAllen, Texas, filling station, where she waited until the same man delivered the suitcase to her. She next went to the bus station at McAllen, and boarded a bus for Houston, Texas, at about 7:00 o'clock that evening, arriving in Houston early the following morning. When she arrived in Houston, she followed the instructions written on one of the papers prepared by the Appellant to take a cab from the...

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14 cases
  • U.S. v. Cadena
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • November 14, 1978
    ...v. United States, 5 Cir. 1967, 375 F.2d 882, 886, Cert. denied, 1967, 389 U.S. 884, 88 S.Ct. 151, 19 L.Ed.2d 181; Marin v. United States, 5 Cir. 1965, 352 F.2d 174; Carmichael, At Sea with the Fourth Amendment, 32 U. Miami L. Rev. 51, 64 (1977). In United States v. Winter, supra, therefore,......
  • U.S. v. Winter, 73--2236
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • March 13, 1975
    ...at 620, 47 S.Ct. at 540, 71 L.Ed. at 805. This Circuit has applied the same principle recently on several occasions. In Marin v. United States, 5 Cir., 1965, 352 F.2d 174 the Court relied on Ford in affirming a conviction under 21 U.S.C.A. § 174 for conspiring to smuggle heroin into the Uni......
  • United States v. James-Robinson, 81-47-Cr-EBD.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida
    • June 11, 1981
    ...(protective principle not defined; ship's location nine miles off Florida indicated intent to distribute in U.S.); Marin v. United States, 352 F.2d 174 (5th Cir. 1965); United States v. Daniszewski, 380 F.Supp. 113, 116 (E.D.N.Y. 1974) (security of A review of the relevant caselaw shows tha......
  • U.S. v. Columba-Colella
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • October 10, 1979
    ...5 Cir. 1967, 375 F.2d 882, Cert. denied sub nom. Groleau v. United States, 389 U.S. 884, 88 S.Ct. 151, 19 L.Ed.2d 181; Marin v. United States, 5 Cir. 1965, 352 F.2d 174. The cases thus far decided have all involved conspiracies, in which aliens who had themselves performed no act within the......
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