U.S. v. Chavez, No. 90-2706

• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)
• Writing for the Court: Before THORNBERRY, DAVIS and WIENER; W. EUGENE DAVIS
• Citation: 947 F.2d 742
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Adan CHAVEZ, Arturo Campos, and Ray Garcia, Defendants-Appellants.
• Docket Number: No. 90-2706
• Decision Date: 08 November 1991

Page 742

947 F.2d 742 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Adan CHAVEZ, Arturo Campos, and Ray Garcia, Defendants-Appellants. No. 90-2706. United States Court of Appeals,
Fifth Circuit. Nov. 8, 1991.

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David Garcia, Edinburg, Tex., for Chavez.

David R. Bires, Houston, Tex., for Campos.

Heriberto Medrano, Harlingen, Tex., for Ray Garcia.

Peggy M. Ronca, Paula C. Offenhauser, Sam Nuchia, Asst. U.S. Attys., Ronald G. Woods, U.S. Atty., Houston, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeals from the United States District Court For the Southern District of Texas.

Before THORNBERRY, DAVIS and WIENER, Circuit Judges.

W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge:

A jury convicted appellants Adan Chavez, Arturo Campos, and Ray Garcia of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana and aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana. In this appeal, all three appellants challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support their convictions. Our review of the record reveals that the evidence is sufficient. In addition, appellant Campos objects to the district court's upward adjustment of his offense level in determining his sentence under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. We also find no merit to this contention.

I.

In December 1989, Joe Jackson, a confidential informant, informed the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that a large shipment of cocaine and marijuana was being shipped from the Rio Grande Valley to Houston, Texas. The DEA began surveillance of Jackson, who soon met with Augustin and Francisco Flores to discuss plans for the shipment. The three agreed that Jackson would drive a truck loaded with the narcotics to Houston and that the Flores brothers would follow in a yellow Oldsmobile. The DEA rented a tractor-trailer rig for Jackson the following day. That evening DEA agents observed Jackson and Francisco Flores in the truck and Augustin Flores in the yellow Oldsmobile driving around McAllen and Edinburg, Texas.

Before proceeding to Houston, Jackson and the Floreses detached the cab of the truck from the trailer. Augustin Flores then took the cab from Jackson and drove it to a mobile home owned by appellant Chavez in Edinburg. The drugs were loaded in the sleeper section of the cab. Augustin Flores returned with the cab, and it was reattached to the trailer. Jackson then continued toward Houston in the truck with the Flores brothers nearby in the Oldsmobile. The truck and the Oldsmobile arrived in the Houston area about 5:30 a.m. on December 15. Later that morning, Jackson and the Floreses ate breakfast and checked in a Budget Inn.

Several hours later, the three men left the Budget Inn and, after driving several "maneuvers" to avoid surveillance, drove to Freeport, Texas, where Augustin Flores made several phone calls from a pay phone. The two vehicles then returned to the Budget Inn. When they arrived at the hotel, Jackson got into the Oldsmobile with the Floreses, and they drove to a Motel 6. At the Motel 6, DEA agents observed Augustin Flores enter room 227 and return to the car about ten minutes later. Jackson and the Flores brothers drove back to the Budget Inn but left a short time later, around 6:30 p.m., in the truck and Oldsmobile.

This time the two vehicles began to drive into Houston but became separated in the heavy traffic. Jackson pulled the truck to the side of the road to wait for the Floreses to rejoin him. While he was waiting, a DEA agent got into the cab and saw the cocaine and marijuana in the cab's sleeper compartment. When the Oldsmobile finally returned, the tractor-trailer rig followed it to TNR Discount Auto Repair (TNR), arriving a little before nine o'clock. The repair yard was closed for the night, but someone opened the gate. The Floreses parked the Oldsmobile in front of the TNR office, and Jackson drove the truck into the yard.

The DEA agents, who had kept the tractor-trailer rig under surveillance throughout

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its journey, next saw a blue Ford pickup truck leave the compound and park in an adjacent parking lot. A short time later, the gate opened again, and the tractor-trailer rig backed out of the compound. At that time, the DEA agents received their order to move in and arrest everyone inside TNR. Once inside the compound, the agents discovered another blue pickup truck. The agents found duffel bags and onion bags filled with packages of cocaine in the truck's bed and a pile of bags on the ground behind the truck.

When the agents entered the compound, they also saw a number of people, including appellants Chavez, Campos, and Garcia, standing near the pile of bags. Chavez and Campos were standing on one side of the pile of bags near the back of the truck, and Garcia was on the other side. All three men were facing the bags and the truck and had their backs to the gate through which the agents entered the compound. Both Chavez and Campos had bags in their hands but dropped the bags when the agents announced their presence. The DEA examined the bags and determined that they contained approximately 336 kilograms of cocaine. The pickup truck outside of the compound contained 550 pounds of marijuana.

The agents arrested Chavez, Campos, Garcia, and several other men who were in the vicinity. After his arrest, Chavez told a DEA agent that he was in Houston to buy cars and that he was staying at the Motel 6 with Campos and Garcia. Independently, Campos also told the agent that he was staying at the Motel 6 with Chavez and Garcia and that he was in town to buy transmissions. A motel registration card introduced at trial showed that Chavez checked in room 227 of the Motel 6 on December 15, expected to check out on December 16, and was staying with two other adults.

Following the arrest, the agents seized two pieces of paper from Augustin Flores. One piece of paper contained Chavez's name and phone number and the other the phone number of the Motel 6 with the number "227." The agents also found a small baggie of cocaine in Chavez's jacket. The agents' search of Campos uncovered a key for room 227 of the Motel 6 and a card with Augustin Flores's name, telephone number, and some numerical computations.

Chavez, Campos, and Garcia...