Opinion ID: 4278941
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: background/procedure

Text: In August 2015, eleven defendants, including the appellants, were charged in a conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine in and around Marshalltown, Iowa. Several of the defendants entered guilty pleas, but the appellants chose to proceed to a jury trial. During the six-day trial, some of the defendants’ original co-conspirators cooperated with the government and testified, hoping for more favorable sentencing recommendations. Prior to trial, Perez-Trevino moved to suppress evidence obtained during an August 12, 2015, traffic stop in Oklahoma. Perez-Trevino argued that the vehicle was improperly impounded and the inventory search was unlawful. The motion was heard by the chief magistrate judge, and Chouteau (Oklahoma) Police Officer Thomas Scott Fisher testified at the hearing. The chief magistrate issued a report and recommendation that the motion be denied. The judge overruled Perez-Trevino’s objections, adopted the report and recommendation, and denied the motion. Castellanos brought a pretrial motion to suppress evidence obtained from the interception of wire and electronic communications of a cell phone identified as Target Telephone #16, arguing that the application for the wiretap: (1) lacked sufficient specificity to establish probable cause, and (2) failed to sufficiently show the wiretap was necessary as required by 18 U.S.C. § 2518(3)(c). After argument on the motion without any additional evidence, the chief magistrate, finding the affidavit sufficient, issued a report and recommendation that the motion be denied. The judge overruled Castellanos’s objections, adopted the report and recommendation, and denied the motion. During the five-day trial, the government witnesses testified about information gleaned during the investigation including evidence obtained from intercepts of several telephones. The cooperating co-conspirators testified about their own -3- participation in the conspiracy and their knowledge of the participation of the three defendants. Following the procedures outlined in United States v. Bell, 573 F.2d 1040 (8th Cir. 1978), the trial court conditionally admitted hearsay evidence from alleged co-conspirators. Much of the testimony referenced Mario Murillo-Mora, a member of the conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, who was connected by evidence to each of the defendants, as well as to other members of the conspiracy. The evidence revealed that the reason the government targeted various electronic devices, including telephone #16, was their connection to communications to and from Murillo-Mora related to the distribution of narcotics. At the end of the government’s case, the court entertained objections to the coconspirator hearsay testimony. The court overruled the objections, finding that each of the admitted statements was made by a co-conspirator in the course of and in furtherance of the conspiracy. The court denied Perez-Trevino’s request for a jury instruction on multiple conspiracies and an instruction regarding a mere buyer/seller relationship. The jury found Perez-Trevino guilty of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, which contained more than 50 grams of pure methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846. Flores and Castellanos were found guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(C), and 846. The district court sentenced Perez-Trevino to 292 months’ imprisonment and sentenced Flores and Castellanos to 240 months’ imprisonment.