U.S. v. Garcia-Jaimes
| Decision Date | 19 April 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-14669.,No. 06-10121.,No. 05-14475.,No. 05-14482.,No. 05-14483.,No. 05-14481.,No. 05-17251.,05-14475.,05-14481.,05-14482.,05-14483.,05-14669.,05-17251.,06-10121. |
| Citation | 484 F.3d 1311 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Efrain GARCIA-JAIMES, a.k.a. Peluchin, Armando Baragan Ramirez, et al., Defendants-Appellants. United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dante Rodriguez-Sotelo, Defendant-Appellant, United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Leopoldo Valencia Cervantes, a.k.a. Polo, Defendant-Appellant, United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Patricio Vargas, Defendant-Appellant, United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jaime Gonzales Mejia, Jose Antonio Valdovinos-Busto, Defendants-Appellants, United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Leonardo Nunez-Virraizabal, Defendant-Appellant, United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Luis Eduardo Perez, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Atlanta, GA, Cynthia W. Roseberry (Court-Appointed), C.W. Roseberry, LLC, Fayetteville, GA, William A. Morrison (Court-Appointed), Jones, Morrison & Womack, P.C., Atlanta, GA, for Defendants-Appellants in 05-14475.
Amy Levin Weil, William H. Thomas, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Atlanta, GA, for U.S.
Sanford A. Wallack (Court-Appointed), Sanford A. Wallack, P.C., Atlanta, GA, for Rodriguez-Sotelo.
Robert J. Yzaguirre, Jose E. Chapa, Yzaguirre & Chapa, McAllen, TX, for Cervantes.
David R. MacKusick (Court-Appointed), Stockbridge, GA, for Vargas.
Thomas S. Robinson, III (Court-Appointed), Snellville, GA, Sandra Michaels (Court-Appointed), Atlanta, GA, for Mejia and Valdovinos-Busto.
Beth E. Edmondson (Court-Appointed), Law Offices of Beth E. Edmondson, Atlanta, GA, for Nunez-Virraizabal.
Akil Kenneth Secret (Court-Appointed), The Secret Firm, P.C., Decatur, GA, for Perez.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Before DUBINA and COX, Circuit Judges, and SCHLESINGER,* District Judge.
This is a huge, complex, multi-defendant criminal drug case in which the district court judge presided over three separate trials in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The original indictment charged 30 individuals with multiple drug trafficking, firearm, and money laundering offenses. Seventeen of those individuals pled guilty. Of the remaining 13 defendants, ten proceeded to trial and three entered guilty pleas. The cases were consolidated on appeal.
The first jury trial began on January 5, 2005. Defendants Rigoberto Garcia Jaimes ("Rigoberto"), Efrain Garcia Jaimes ("Efrain"), Roberto Moreno Gonzalez ("Roberto"), Armando Baragan Ramirez ("Armando"), Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez ("Alejandro"), Sabas Jaimes Enriques ("Sabas"), and Leonardo Nunez Virraizabal a/k/a Noel Chavez Moreno ("Leonardo") were tried together. After a three-week trial, the jury returned its verdicts finding Armando guilty on Counts One (drug conspiracy), Six (possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime), and Twenty-Six (money laundering conspiracy); Roberto guilty on Counts One (drug conspiracy), Two (possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime), and Twenty-Six (money laundering conspiracy); Rigoberto guilty on Counts One (drug conspiracy), Three (possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime), Four (alien in possession of a firearm), and Twenty-Six (money laundering conspiracy); Efrain guilty on Counts One (drug conspiracy), Four (alien in possession of a firearm), and Twenty-Six (money laundering conspiracy); Alejandro guilty on Counts One (drug conspiracy) and Twenty-Six (money laundering conspiracy); Sabas guilty on Counts One (drug conspiracy), Five (possession with intent to distribute cocaine), and Twenty-Six (money laundering conspiracy); and Leonardo guilty on Counts One (drug conspiracy) and Twenty-Six (money laundering conspiracy).
On February 1, 2005, defendant Luis Eduardo Perez ("Luis") proceeded to jury trial, and on February 8, the jury found him guilty on Count One (drug conspiracy).
On March 9, 2005, defendants Jaime Gonzales Mejia ("Jaime") and Jose Valdovinos Busto ("Jose") proceeded to jury trial. On March 22, the jury found Jaime guilty on Counts One (drug conspiracy), Nine (possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime), and Ten (alien in possession of a firearm) and Jose guilty on Counts One (drug conspiracy) and Twenty-Six (money laundering conspiracy).
Defendants Leopoldo Valencia Cervantes ("Leopoldo"), Patricio Vargas Jiminez ("Patricio"), and Dante Rodriguez Sotelo ("Dante") each entered guilty pleas. Leopoldo pled guilty to Counts One (drug conspiracy) and Twenty-Six (money laundering conspiracy). Patricio pled guilty to Counts One (drug conspiracy), Eighteen (possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime), Twenty (alien in possession of a firearm), and Twenty-Six (money laundering conspiracy). Dante pled guilty to Counts One (drug conspiracy), Seventeen (possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime), Nineteen (alien in possession of a firearm), and Twenty-Six (money laundering conspiracy).
After lengthy sentencing hearings, the defendants received the following sentences:
Rigoberto-420 months imprisonment
Efrain-350 months imprisonment
Alejandro-292 months imprisonment
Roberto-480 months imprisonment
Patricio-240 months imprisonment
Dante-220 months imprisonment
Jaime-270 months imprisonment
Armando-295 months imprisonment
Leopoldo-190 months imprisonment
Sabas-300 months imprisonment
Jose-280 months imprisonment
Leonardo-290 months imprisonment
Luis-135 months imprisonment
The defendants then perfected their appeals. All of the defendants are incarcerated.
In 2002, the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") directed agents in Atlanta, Georgia, and McAllen, Texas, to investigate a Mexican drug trafficking organization that was importing cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine into the United States for distribution in the Atlanta area. The investigation included surveillance of various members of the organization, as well as Title III wiretaps that resulted in numerous intercepted telephone calls among the organization members. By the time of trial, the authorities had intercepted over 30,000 telephone calls by way of wiretap. These intercepted telephone calls confirmed that the members of the organization were engaged in the possession and distribution of cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine. The intercepted calls also confirmed that the members of the organization were collecting money from the sale of the drugs to send to Mexico. The drug proceeds also paid the operating expenses of the organization in the United States, including mortgages and rent for residences and stash houses, purchase of vehicles and firearms for use by the organization members, and purchase of tractor-trailers and cover load cars and trucks to transport the drugs and money.
Roberto was the leader of the drug organization. Rigoberto worked for Roberto supervising the drug distribution and money collection for the Atlanta area. Ramon Alvarez Sanchez ("Ramon") and his brother Antonio Alvarez ("Antonio") had their own source of marijuana in Mexico, but they purchased cocaine from Roberto, either directly or through Rigoberto. Ramon operated his own organization distributing cocaine and marijuana in Atlanta and other cities. Through use of his trucking company, Ramon arranged for transportation of drugs for Roberto and Rigoberto, as well as for himself. Luis worked for Ramon and drove the trucks that transported drugs from Texas to Atlanta by using cover loads of either cabbages or watermelons.
Rigoberto supervised Efrain and Sabas, and reported back to Roberto. Efrain and Sabas delivered drugs and collected money for Rigoberto. As part of his duties, Rigoberto also obtained and maintained stash houses located in the Atlanta area at Canberra Court, Ringtail Drive, Robin Hill Drive, Waterbrook Terrace, Murdock Court, and Shenta Oak Drive. The stash house at Canberra Court was Sabas's residence, but he later moved to the Waterbrook Terrace house. Alejandro, Armando, and Leopoldo manned the stash house located on Ringtail Drive. Jaime manned the stash house located on Robin Hill Drive.
Marcos Ibarra Nunez, a/k/a Marco Antonio Sotelo Ibarra, a/k/a Marco Pelaez Sotelo ("Marcos") worked for Rigoberto as a supervisor, and he too obtained and maintained residences and stash houses in the Atlanta area, including stash houses located on Woodstock Drive and Oak Vista Way.
Leonardo, Roberto's cousin, manned the Woodstock Drive stash house along with Eliodoro Moreno Contreras ("Eliodoro"), and the lease for this house was in Leonardo's name. Dante, Patricio, Jose, and Gonzalo Vidales Cisneros ("Gonzalo"), a cooperating co-conspirator, manned the Oak Vista Way stash house.
Prior to trial, the defendants filed motions to suppress evidence. The first motion dealt with the suppression of consent searches of two addresses to which Leonardo was connected: (1) 3000 Briarcliff Road and (2) 3078 Clairmont Road. A magistrate judge entered a report recommending the denial of this motion to suppress after finding that there was a consent to search for each apartment. The district court overruled Leonardo's objections and adopted the magistrate judge's recommendation.
All defendants filed motions to suppress the fruits of court-authorized electronic surveillance based upon an alleged lack of probable cause. Several defendants also argued that the government improperly sealed the recordings in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2518(8)(a). They alleged that the...
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