United States v. Lara

• Decision Date: 11 January 2022
• Docket Number: No. 20-50112,20-50112
• Citation: 23 F.4th 459
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff—Appellee, v. Mary Ann LARA; Melissa Janet Lara, Defendants—Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

23 F.4th 459

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff—Appellee,

v.Mary Ann LARA; Melissa Janet Lara, Defendants—Appellants.

No. 20-50112

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

FILED January 11, 2022

Joseph H. Gay, Jr., Elizabeth Berenguer, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Texas, San Antonio, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Jerry Van Beard, Esq., Fort Worth, TX, for Defendant-Appellant Mary Ann Lara.

John Anthony Peralta, Esq., Lufkin, TX, for Defendant-Appellant Melissa Janet Lara.

Before King, Higginson, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.

Stephen A. Higginson, Circuit Judge:

Sisters Mary Ann Lara and Melissa Lara were convicted by a jury of various drug trafficking counts after attempting to drive a pickup truck containing over 38 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a compartment in the truck's tires from Mexico into the United States. They were sentenced to 288 months' imprisonment. They each raise numerous issues on appeal. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM.

I.

A.

On April 11, 2018, Priscilla Ramirez and her two daughters approached the Eagle Pass, Texas border checkpoint, driving a black Trailblazer. At primary inspection, Customs and Border Protection Officer Emily Vasquez questioned Ramirez about her trip to Mexico. Officer Vasquez stated that Ramirez gave no direct answers, seemed nervous, would not make eye contact, and looked back in the rearview mirror quite a few times. Ramirez denied traveling with anyone else. Ramirez told Officer Vasquez that the purpose of her trip was to visit a friend. Officer Vasquez noted that Ramirez had travelled all the way from San Antonio and had remained in Mexico for a very short amount of time. Officer Vasquez sent Ramirez to the secondary inspection area for a more intensive screening.

The next vehicle to come through Officer Vasquez's lane at the checkpoint was a silver Ford F-150 truck containing Mary Ann Lara, Melissa Lara, and a child. The Laras' itinerary was exactly the same as Ramirez's. Officer Vasquez recalled that she did not get any "straight answers" from either Mary Ann Lara or Melissa Lara. Additionally, the truck's license plate returned a "text hit," indicating that a full inspection on the vehicle was necessary. Accordingly, Officer Vasquez referred Mary Ann Lara and Melissa Lara to secondary inspection.

Ramirez, Mary Ann Lara, Melissa Lara, and the children exited the vehicles for the secondary inspection, and Customs and Border Protection Officer Leonardo Lopez escorted them inside to a waiting area. He asked if Ramirez, Mary Ann Lara, and Melissa Lara were related, and they said no. He told them that they "look like sisters," but they did not respond. Once the women and children were inside, Officer Lopez visually inspected the truck. He noted that it was "abnormally" clean inside, which is a "red flag." After the inspection, an x-ray machine indicated anomalies inside the tires. These anomalies were compartments containing methamphetamine. Laboratory testing indicated that the methamphetamine was 97% pure and had a net weight of 38.2 kilograms. No contraband was found in Ramirez's vehicle.

While in the waiting area, Ramirez, Mary Ann Lara, and Melissa Lara were separated, and their unlocked cell phones were taken by an officer. Ramirez and the Lara sisters indicated that they were traveling separately, and they acted like they did not know each other. After a little while, however, their children started talking and sharing Cheetos. The officers again asked if Ramirez and the Lara sisters knew each other, and they said "no." Eventually, the children started playing with each other, and at that time Ramirez and the Lara sisters admitted to knowing each other. The Lara sisters and Ramirez were subsequently arrested.

Mary Ann Lara, Melissa Lara, and Ramirez were ultimately charged as co-defendants, along with another woman named Ashley Trinidad. Ramirez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to tamper with a witness (for a confrontation with Trinidad in a detention center). Trinidad pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import methamphetamine. Mary Ann Lara and Melissa Lara pleaded not guilty and proceeded to trial.

B.

At the trial, Priscilla Ramirez testified that she knew Mary Ann Lara and Melissa Lara through their older sister, Carla Lara. Mary Ann Lara contacted Ramirez on Facebook, asking for a ride to Mexico to pick up a work truck from Rogelio Flores, Carla Lara's ex-husband. Mary Ann Lara told Ramirez that she would pay Ramirez $200 to bring her to Mexico to pick up the truck.

A Facebook Messenger transcript showed that Flores contacted Mary Ann Lara on April 10, 2018, asking her if she knew anyone who could drive a truck from Nava, Mexico to San Antonio, Texas as soon as possible. He offered to pay $600 plus expenses. Mary Ann Lara asked Flores what was in the truck, and he responded, "right now nothing it's clean." He also told her that the truck was not stolen. He told her to erase all their messages more than once. Mary Ann Lara told Flores that Ramirez would pick up the truck, that she would accompany Ramirez, and that she would message him later on WhatsApp. Flores would not give Mary Ann Lara an address to pick up the truck but rather stated that once she and Ramirez had arrived in Nava, he would take them to the truck. Similarly, he did not give an address at which to drop off the truck in San Antonio. Later in that Messenger conversation, Mary Ann Lara asked Flores if they could leave the next day because Ramirez needed to fix her tire. Flores responded that it was urgent that the truck be driven to San Antonio, and he said that he would fix the tire or send them additional money to fix the tire. Mary Ann Lara asked Flores not to tell anyone that they were coming to get the truck; he responded that "nobody will know about this seriously." The next morning, Mary Ann Lara told Flores that she and Ramirez had left for Mexico. Mary Ann Lara then exchanged two Facebook audio calls with Flores. After the calls, Mary Ann Lara told Flores on Messenger that she had brought Melissa Lara and "the baby" and that she had told Melissa Lara "not to say anything."

Ramirez testified that she drove Mary Ann Lara, Melissa Lara, Carla Lara's son, and her own two daughters to Nava, Mexico on April 11, 2018. She stated that they were receiving directions from Flores and that Flores' cousin was requesting updates on their trip down to Mexico. Ramirez further testified that once they arrived in Mexico, they met Flores at a gas station and followed him to get something to eat and then to a house. After waiting at the house for over 20 minutes, an old man delivered the truck. The old man gave money and the keys to the truck to Flores, who in turn gave them to Mary Ann Lara. Melissa Lara drove the truck back to Texas. Because the Lara sisters did not know their way back to the border, they followed Ramirez. Ramirez had to slow down to allow the Laras to keep up with her.

The Facebook Messenger transcript showed that Mary Ann Lara and Flores were in communication during the drive to Mexico, with Flores giving directions and asking for updates. During the drive home, Flores told Mary Ann Lara that the truck would run back and forth between Mexico and Texas. Mary Ann Lara then told Flores that the license plate was expired. Flores told Mary Ann Lara to tell the checkpoint officers that the truck belonged to an aunt or a friend and that they came to Mexico to allow Carla Lara's son to see his dad.

Ramirez testified that she began to drive faster once she neared the border, because she was "thinking of [her] kids." Ramirez said that she was nervous at the primary checkpoint because her daughter got out of her car seat. She admitted to falsely telling the border patrol officer that she was traveling alone, explaining that she did not acknowledge knowing the Lara sisters because she "thought it was best to keep quiet, it would be faster." After the border patrol agents discovered the drugs in the truck, Ramirez was taken into custody.

The last Facebook message from Mary Ann Lara to Flores indicated that the Lara sisters were in line at the checkpoint. Flores asked whether they were able to cross with the expired license plate, but Mary Ann Lara did not respond. Flores continued to message Mary Ann Lara, telling her that he was worried that she was not responding.

Bjorn Schreiner, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, testified that on April 11, 2018 (the day the Laras were stopped at the border), Melissa Lara agreed to call Flores while agents monitored and recorded the call. Agents instructed Melissa Lara to tell Flores that the truck had broken down somewhere between Eagle Pass and LaPryor and to ask him if he would come to get it. Agents believed that the truck breaking down was a logical story because Melissa Lara had told them that the truck was "driving funny and shaking really bad." Although Melissa Lara eventually told Flores that the truck broke down, she began the call by saying, "Why didn't you tell me the truck had drugs in it?" Agent Schreiner stated that as an investigative strategy, agents would not tell the target of a call that the drugs had been found. Informing Flores that the drugs had been found would likely interfere with the agents' plan to get Flores to meet them off-site.

Customs and Border Protection Officer Hector Hernandez testified regarding Ashley Lynn Trinidad's arrest. On April 18, 2018, one week after the Lara sisters were arrested, Trinidad approached the Del Rio Port of Entry, driving a silver Expedition. Based on her itinerary and story, Officer Hernandez directed her to the secondary inspection area. At secondary inspection, they found her tires loaded with methamphetamine. Laboratory testing indicated that the methamphetamine was 95% pure and had a net weight of 38.9 kilograms. Trinidad was ultimately charged along with the Lara sisters and Ramirez.

Trinidad testified that she is a close friend of Carla Lara....