Source: http://openjurist.org/484/f3d/745/united-states-v-valles
Timestamp: 2014-09-03 08:19:07
Document Index: 462219598

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 841', '§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 841', '§ 2', '§ 841', '§ 2']

484 F3d 745 United States v. Valles | OpenJurist
484 F. 3d 745 - United States v. Valles	Home484 f3d 745 united states v. valles
484 F3d 745 United States v. Valles 484 F.3d 745
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Juan Victor VALLES, also known as Smiley; Johnny Garcia-Esparza, also known as Gira; Sammy Garcia, also known as Spiderman; Jimmy Zavala, also known as Panson, also known as Gordo, Defendants-Appellants.
No. 05-51209.
Joseph H. Gay, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Ellen A. Lockwood (argued), San Antonio, TX, for U.S.
Edward L. Bravenec (argued), McKnight & Bravenec, San Antonio, TX, for Valles.
Bowen W. Sutton (argued), Law Offices of Bowen W. Sutton, San Antonio, TX, for Garcia-Esparza.
Vincent Dennis Callahan, III, San Antonio, TX, for Garcia.
Adrienne Urrutia Wisenberg (argued), Solomon L. Wisenberg, PLLC, Washington, DC, for Zavala.
Defendants-Appellants Juan Victor Valles, Johnny Garcia-Esparza, Sammy Garcia, and Jimmy Zavala were indicted for numerous illegal acts stemming from their involvement in the Texas Mexican Mafia ("TMM"). After a lengthy trial, a jury returned guilty verdicts against each defendant on each count of their respective indictments. The district court sentenced the defendants to lengthy terms of imprisonment. The defendants now appeal their convictions and sentences. Concluding that the district court committed no error, we affirm the defendants' convictions and sentences.
A. Origins of the TMM
The TMM—officially named "Mexikanemi" (Spanish for "free-Mexicans") and often referred to as "La Eme" (a phonetic reference to "Mexikanemi")—was formed in the mid-1980s by Heriberto Huerta, while he was imprisoned in a federal penitentiary. He did so after he obtained permission from the Mexican Mafia of California to establish a similar organization in Texas. According to the TMM constitution, which has remained virtually unchanged since it was drafted in the mid-1980s, the TMM is a criminal organization functioning in "whatever aspect or criminal interest for the benefit of advancement of Mexikanemi" and willing to "traffic in drugs, contract murders, prostitution, major robberies, gambling, arms and anything else [it] can imagine."
Even though the TMM is a single organization, its hierarchical structure is divided into two separate and distinct chains of command. The TMM's ranking system is split between those members in prison and those outside of prison or "on the street." Thus, there are TMM prison generals, captains, lieutenants, sergeants, and soldiers, and there are street generals, captains, lieutenants, sergeants, and soldiers. TMM prison members only have authority over the TMM's activities within prison, and TMM street members only have authority over activities outside of prison.
In August 2004, a federal grand jury returned a 33-count indictment against 28 TMM members. Count One charged all 28 TMM members with conspiring to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute a kilogram or more of heroin and five kilograms or more of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and 846. Count One alleged that between August 1, 1999, and August 1, 2004, the TMM, through these 28 defendants, conspired among each other and agreed to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin and cocaine, then committed the following overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy: (1) obtained heroin and cocaine in large quantities and distributed it among members of the TMM for further distribution and sale; (2) controlled the distribution of heroin and cocaine by restricting drug trafficking among non-members of the TMM, exclusively to those non-members who paid the dime to the TMM; (3) protected authorized drug distributors from robbery, violence, and competition; and (4) used violence to enforce the TMM's requirement that all drug distributors pay the dime.
Count Thirteen charged Valles and two other TMM members with distributing a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin on January 29, 2004, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C), and 18 U.S.C. § 2.
Count Seventeen charged Garcia-Esparza and another TMM member with distributing a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin on March 17, 2004, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), and 18 U.S.C. § 2.
Count Eighteen charged Garcia-Esparza and another TMM member with distributing a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin on March 23, 2004, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), and 18 U.S.C. § 2.
Count Nineteen charged Garcia-Esparza and another TMM member with distributing a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin on March 30, 2004, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), and 18 U.S.C. § 2.
Count Twenty charged Garcia-Esparza, Garcia, and another TMM member with distributing a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin on April 22, 2004, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), and 18 U.S.C. § 2.
Count Twenty-One charged Zavala and another TMM member with possessing with the intent to distribute five hundred grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine on April 22, 2004, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), and 18 U.S.C. § 2.
Count Thirty charged Zavala, Garcia-Esparza, and four other TMM members with conspiring to knowingly use, carry, and possess at least one of fifty individually listed firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime (Count One of the Indictment) from August 1, 1999 to August 1, 2004, in violation of