Source: http://openjurist.org/119/f3d/342/united-states-v-chavez
Timestamp: 2013-12-11 20:14:59
Document Index: 510365714

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 846', '§ 2', '§ 841', '§ 924', '§ 846', '§ 2', '§ 841', '§ 924']

119 F3d 342 United States v. Chavez | OpenJurist
119 F. 3d 342 - United States v. Chavez	Home119 f3d 342 united states v. chavez
119 F3d 342 United States v. Chavez 119 F.3d 342
47 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 606
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Oscar CHAVEZ; Arturo Rodriguez Guerra; Miguel Perez Lopez,Defendants-Appellants.
No. 96-20622.
David B. Adler, Bellaire, TX, for Oscar Chavez, Defendant-Appellant.
Lourdes Rodriguez, Houston, TX, for Arturo Rodriguez Guerra, Defendant-Appellant.
Marjorie A. Meyers, Bennett, Secrest & Meyers, Houston, TX, for Miguel Perez Lopez, Defendant-Appellant.
Oscar Chavez, Arturo Rodriguez-Guerra, and Miguel Perez-Lopez appeal their convictions for conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and for aiding and abetting the possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B). Miguel Perez-Lopez also appeals his conviction for using and carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking offense, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Finally, Perez appeals an increase in his sentence for lying to the court during his sentencing hearing. Finding no error, we affirm the judgments of conviction and sentences.
Oscar Chavez ("Chavez"), Arturo Rodriguez-Guerra ("Rodriguez"), and Miguel Perez-Lopez ("Perez") were charged by indictment with conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and with aiding and abetting the possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B). Perez was also charged with using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).
The district court denied the defendants' motions for judgment of acquittal at the close of the government's case-in-chief and again at the close of the evidence, and the jury convicted each of the defendants as charged. Chavez was sentenced to 63 months confinement and a five-year term of supervised release, and was assessed a $12,500 fine and a $100 special assessment. Rodriguez was sentenced to 120 months confinement and a five-year term of supervised release, and was assessed a $12,500 fine and a $100 special assessment. Perez was sentenced to 78 months confinement on the drug counts, followed by 60 months confinement on the firearm count. He was additionally sentenced to a five-year term of supervised release, followed by a three-year term of supervised release, and was assessed a fine of $12,500 and a special assessment of $100.
The events leading to the indictment began in August 1995 when Donato "Rico" Chavez, a paid informant for various law enforcement agencies, contacted DEA agents Russell Reina and Wendell Campbell and offered to provide information on alleged drug dealer Oscar Chavez. The agents agreed to arrange a deal for 400 pounds of marijuana. Rico contacted Chavez and set up the purchase.
On September 27, 1995, Rico and Agent Reina, acting undercover and driving separate vehicles, met with the defendants at a restaurant. Chavez told Rico that Rodriguez was his friend and that Rodriguez had the "stuff." Chavez asked Rico if he had the money, and Rico replied that it was in Reina's truck. Rico, Chavez, and Rodriguez approached the passenger side of Reina's pickup, where Reina displayed a bag of cash through the open passenger window.
Rico gave Chavez the keys to the rented van that Rico had driven to the site. Chavez handed the keys to Rodriguez, who in turn handed them to a third person. Reina identified the third person as Perez, but Rico was certain it was not. The third person, identified as Perez by an agent on surveillance, departed in the van. Chavez then suggested that the rest of them leave the area. Rico, Chavez, and Rodriguez drove to a nearby Burger King, followed by Reina in the pickup truck. Reina claimed that Rodriguez drove in a manner that indicated he was attempting to avoid surveillance, although Rico testified that there was nothing unusual about their route.
Shortly after Rico, Chavez, Rodriguez, and Reina returned to the original restaurant, the van pulled into the parking lot. Reina observed a bulky package in the back seat of the van and gave the arrest signal. All three defendants were arrested. During the course of the arrest, Perez pulled a loaded firearm from his waistband, but threw it aside when overpowered by a police officer.
A. Sufficiency of the Evidence to Support a Finding of Predisposition Against Chavez
Chavez contends that the district court erred in failing to grant his motions for judgment of acquittal because there was insufficient evidence to support a finding of predisposition against him. He argues that he properly raised the defense of entrapment at trial and the government failed to meet its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that he was predisposed to commit the charged drug offense.
"When the government ... has induced an individual to break the law, and the defense of entrapment is at issue, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was inclined to commit the criminal act even before he was approached by government agents." United States v. Byrd, 31 F.3d 1329, 1334-35 (5th Cir.1994) (citing Jacobson v. United States, 503 U.S.