Opinion ID: 533777
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Post-conspiracy Financial Transactions

Text: 14 The government introduced into evidence a number of documents showing large purchases, including purchases of various houses and cars by both defendants, and evidence of other financial transactions including bank, mutual fund and brokerage account records from the time immediately following the alleged conspiracy and continuing for the next five years. For example, Gilbert purchased a farm in Pennsylvania with a downpayment of $174,000 paid in $20 bills more than 3 years after the importation. 15 The government also presented the testimony of an Internal Revenue Service agent who testified that the defendants' tax returns did not show income even close to the level necessary to complete the purchases and transactions. The defendants complain that there was no evidence that the large amounts of unexplained cash were derived from the July, 1983, importation and thus they were irrelevant. In addition, defendants claim that the time between the importation and the purchases was too long to show relevance absent evidence to connect the money and the crime. 6 16 It is common ground that the possession of large amounts of unexplained cash in connection with evidence of narcotics trafficking is generally relevant and admissable. United States v. Ariza-Ibarra, 605 F.2d 1216, 1225 (1st Cir.1979). See also United States v. Wood, 834 F.2d 1382, 1386 (8th Cir.1987); United States v. Collins, 764 F.2d 647 (9th Cir.1985); United States v. Chagra, 669 F.2d 241, 255-57 (5th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 846, 103 S.Ct. 102, 74 L.Ed.2d 92 (1982); United States v. Tramunti, 513 F.2d 1087, 1105 (2d Cir.1975). Furthermore, as we noted in Ariza-Ibarra, that is true even if the source of the money is not traced. 605 F.2d at 1225 n. 11. Defendants have cited many cases of drug convictions in which the money was found or financial transactions took place near the time of the drug conspiracy, but have not cited any case that excludes evidence of large cash transactions merely because time has passed and the transaction is no longer relevant. 7 In point of fact, the cases cited seem to imply that the such evidence is relevant anytime after the alleged offense. See, e.g., Chagra, 669 F.2d at 256. We do not think, given the large amount of profit derived from this importation, that five years after a crime is too long to destroy the relevance, as a matter of law, of the possession and use of large amounts of unexplained money. 17 The defendants claim that the evidence of the financial transactions should only have been admitted if there was a showing of special relevance because the issue in this case was the credibility of the government's two accomplices [the Kukielskis]. We disagree. The basic issue in the case was not the credibility of the government's witnesses, that was only a subsidiary issue. The pivotal issue was whether the government could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants had conspired to, and did, import large amounts of marijuana into the United States. The possession of large amounts of unexplained cash and other financial transactions are relevant to prove those charges. We also recognize, of course, that the government, in order to prove the CCE count against Newton, had to show that Newton received substantial income from the conspiracy. Chagra, 669 F.2d at 256. 18 Finally, the defendants contend that the government is investigating other alleged drug importations by the defendants that are more likely to be the source of the money. Defendants argue that because of these other investigations the government must prove that the unexplained money came from the July, 1983 importation. But the suggestion ... that the large amounts of cash were from another illegal activity ... goes to weight and not admissibility of the evidence.... Tramunti, 513 F.2d at 1105. 19 The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the evidence of the financial transactions.