U.S. v. Patino-Rojas, PATINO-ROJA
| Decision Date | 08 September 1992 |
| Docket Number | PATINO-ROJA,D,No. 92-1074,92-1074 |
| Citation | 974 F.2d 94 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Andresefendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
J. Michael Mayer, Des Moines, Iowa, for defendant-appellant.
Lester A. Paff, Asst. U.S. Atty., Des Moines, Iowa, for plaintiff-appellee.
Before BOWMAN and LOKEN, Circuit Judges, and HUNTER, Senior District Judge. *
Andres Patino-Rojas appeals his conviction and sentence for two money laundering offenses--structuring a transaction with financial institutions for the purpose of evading the reporting requirements of 31 U.S.C. § 5313(a), in violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5324(3), and knowingly conducting a financial transaction with illegal drug proceeds in order to avoid a transaction reporting requirement, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(ii). Patino-Rojas argues that the district court 1 erred in admitting conspirator hearsay statements at his trial and in applying a two-level enhancement for obstruction of justice in determining his sentence. We affirm.
In June of 1990, Patino-Rojas and Fernando Hernandez-Puga counted out cash at the Boatworks, Inc., in Des Moines, Iowa, to complete Patino-Rojas's purchase of a $20,000 boat. When told that a currency transaction report must be filed for a cash payment of more than $10,000, they left and later returned with two cashier's checks from different local banks, one for $6,000 and the other for $9,000. The Boatworks took the checks and additional currency and completed the sale.
An employee of one bank testified that Patino-Rojas had come to the bank that day and initially asked for a $10,000 cashier's check. When she advised him that she would need identification to fill out a transaction report, he left, returned a few minutes later, and purchased a $6,000 cashier's check with cash. Federal law requires that financial institutions complete a currency transaction report for all cash transactions of $10,000 or more. See 31 U.S.C. § 5313(a); 31 C.F.R. § 103.22(a)(1).
A six-count indictment was returned against Patino-Rojas, Guadalupe Acosta-Miranda, and a third defendant. Patino-Rojas was charged in four of the counts with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and heroin, and with the two money laundering charges for the way in which he obtained the cashier's checks and conducted the purchase of the boat.
At trial, Fernando Hernandez-Puga and his two brothers, who had pleaded guilty to other drug charges, testified that Patino-Rojas knew that the money to buy the boat came from Fernando Hernandez-Puga's drug proceeds, and that the boat was later taken to Las Vegas and exchanged for kilos of cocaine. Fernando Hernandez-Puga testified that Patino-Rojas was in the cocaine business with him, and that Acosta-Miranda had said that Patino-Rojas was also part of a separate cocaine and heroin business with Acosta-Miranda. Patino-Rojas took the stand in his own defense and denied all the charges. He testified that he bought the boat with his own money and money borrowed from a friend, not with money from Fernando Hernandez-Puga's drug business.
The jury acquitted Patino-Rojas of the drug charges but convicted him of the money laundering charges--structuring the cashier's check purchases so that the banks would not file currency transaction reports, and buying the boat with illegal drug money in such a manner that the Boatworks would not file a report. In sentencing Patino-Rojas, the district court enhanced his base offense level by two levels after finding that he gave false testimony at trial. The court then reduced his base offense level because his criminal history category overstated the seriousness of his criminal history and sentenced him to 63...
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