Opinion ID: 781787
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Circumstances of the Crime

Text: 4 On March 31, 2000, an Iowa state trooper stopped a red Beretta because the trooper did not recognize the car's temporary license plate. The trooper determined that neither the driver, Eddie Moreno (Moreno), nor the passenger, Rojas, possessed valid drivers' licenses. Rojas, a Mexican, does not speak English. The trooper issued Moreno a ticket for driving on a suspended license. Suspecting that the car contained drugs, the trooper obtained consent from Moreno to search the car. 5 The trooper did not uncover any drugs during the roadside search, however, he continued to suspect that the car contained drugs. 2 After obtaining Moreno's consent to continue the search, the trooper had the car towed to a local service station. The trooper dropped Moreno and Rojas off at a nearby truck stop. The second search of the car resulted in the seizure of 4,409.3 grams of methamphetamine. 6 Authorities arrested Rojas on April 3, 2000, after Moreno and Rojas attempted to recover the car. On April 13, 2000, a grand jury indicted Moreno and Rojas on one count of possession with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. Rojas entered an Alford 3 plea on December 5, 2000. At the plea hearing, Rojas admitted to falsely telling the trooper that he had no knowledge of drugs in the car at the time of the stop. 7 Shortly after entering his plea, Rojas, with his counsel, spoke to an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) regarding his criminal conduct and other illegal activities. The AUSA explained that Rojas had to be completely truthful during the debriefing and warned him that the consequences of providing false information included possible perjury charges and possible nullification of favorable sentencing reductions. The government concedes that for the most part, Rojas provided complete and truthful information relating to the stop on March 31, 2000. 8 In addition, the government had information that Moreno had participated in an earlier drug exchange in early March 2000. The government had information that during the early March 2000 trip Moreno purchased a van to drive back to California, and that the van broke down on the way back causing Moreno to purchase the car, that the trooper later stopped on March 31, 2000. Rojas acknowledged that Moreno had made an earlier trip from California to Minnesota, and that the van Moreno had purchased broke down, causing Moreno to purchase the car, but Rojas denied any participation in the trip. 9 Moreno also pleaded guilty on December 5, 2000, and debriefed with the government. Moreno explained that in early March 2000, Moreno, Rojas, and a third person flew from California to Minneapolis with methamphetamine strapped to their bodies. Moreno used the proceeds from the trip to purchase the van to drive back to California to make further drug trips. Apparently, Rojas flew back to California, while Moreno drove the van to Iowa, where it broke down. Moreno and Rojas were returning from California to Iowa to recover the van when the trooper stopped the car. 10 After receiving this information, the government contacted Rojas and his lawyer about the discrepancies in Moreno's and Rojas' stories regarding the early March 2000 trip. The government scheduled a second debriefing with Rojas. 11 Rojas asserts that when he arrived at the second debriefing, the government told him that it would resist any sentence reduction and would seek a high sentence, while Moreno might receive a lesser sentence for his cooperation. Rojas contends that after hearing this information he refused to speak with the government without a judge being present because he no longer trusted what the government said. 4