Opinion ID: 1199978
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The October Trip

Text: Shortly after the September Trip, Amauri asked Leerdam to take another trip to the U.S., and Leerdam agreed. ( Id. at 165-66.) On October 13, 2005, Leerdam boarded a flight from Santo Domingo to JFK Airport, this time with two suitcases provided by Amauri. ( Id. at 166.) Upon arrival at JFK Airport, Leerdam underwent a routine customs examination, during which agents from CBP discovered what was later determined to be 3.25 kilograms of cocaine. ( Id. at 44-45, 269.) A special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) testified at trial that the wholesale value of this cocaine was approximately $67,000, and that the street value was approximately $260,000. ( Id. at 271-72.) At trial, Leerdam testified that until confronted by CBP agents, she did not know the type or amount of drugs in her suitcases. ( Id. at 182.) Leerdam was arrested by CBP officers at approximately 11 p.m. on October 13, ( id. at 295-96), and she agreed to cooperate with law enforcement by permitting certain phone calls to be monitored and recorded, and participating in a controlled delivery of the cocaine, ( id. at 60-61, 169-70). The first call Leerdam made was to Amauri in the Dominican Republic; he directed her to find a taxi driver, preferably one who had a cellular phone, and to take the taxi to 103rd Street and Corona Avenue in Queens. (Government Exhibit (GX) 10-A (Translated English Transcription of Telephone Conversation between Leerdam and Amauri on October 13, 2005).) An agent from ICE, Jason Hurwitz, posed as a taxi driver and took Leerdam in an undercover taxi to 103rd Street and Corona Avenue in Queens. At approximately 12:45 a.m. on October 14, Leerdam placed another call to Amauri in the Dominican Republic. (Tr. 62.) During that call, Amauri asked to speak with the taxi driver and told Hurwitz to take Leerdam to a nearby hotel. ( Id.; GX 3500FL4 at 3-4 (Translated English Transcriptions of Recorded Telephone and Monitoring Device Conversations).) After briefly conversing with Hurwitz, Amauri asked him to put Leerdam back on the line, and altered course, giving Leerdam a local Queens number to call, with instructions to ask for Julio. (Tr. 63; GX 3500FL4 at 4-7.) Leerdam called the Queens number shortly thereafter, which was answered by Andrea. (Tr. 63.) Leerdam asked for Julio, and when told that he was sleeping, responded that Amauri told her to ask for him. (GX 3500FL4 at 11.) Andrea responded that Amauri had just called, and that she should come to the Lorenzo residence to wait for a taxi to take [her] to, to where ... uh, Julito took [her], ( id. at 13), and that Amauri would be calling Andrea back. Leerdam arrived at the Lorenzo residence at approximately 1 a.m. and found Andrea in her nightgown waiting on the porch. (Tr. 63-64.) Hurwitz pulled the taxi in front of the house and helped Leerdam remove the suitcases from the trunk of the taxi; Andrea took one suitcase and Leerdam took the other as they proceeded towards the house. ( Id. at 66.) Upon reaching the porch, Andrea placed the suitcase she was carrying inside the house. ( Id. at 180.) During the course of Leerdam's egress from the taxi and their approach towards the house, the following exchange occurred: LEERDAM: Is that you, ma'[a]m? ANDREA: How are you, [unintelligible ([U/I])]? Damn it, so much work, huh? LEERDAM: Yes. ANDREA: [U/I]. [Pause] ANDREA: Oh, my God, honey! Yes, he called me, me and told me to call a taxi from the corner that I know to take you to the, the hotel. LEERDAM: Right. ANDREA: So you can spend the night right there. Because [U/I] I'm sleeping in a room a lot smaller tha[n] this one. Otherwise, we could both be together. [U/I] a small bed. LEERDAM: And the suit ? (GX 3500FL4 at 24.) As Leerdam was asking Andrea about the suitcases, she was interrupted by agents who told Leerdam and Andrea not to move and proceeded to arrest them. ( Id. ) Agents entered the Lorenzo home and came upon Julio Lorenzo Jr., and arrested him. (Tr. 71.) Leerdam later told agents that Julio Jr. was not the person whom she had dealt with previously, and agents then returned to the home where they returned Julio Jr. and arrested the senior Julio Lorenzo. ( Id. ) Inside the home, agents recovered an address book which listed several of Amauri's phone numbers repeatedly. ( Id. at 67-68.) Upon her arrest, Andrea was advised of and waived her Miranda rights, and indicated her willingness to speak to law enforcement. ( Id. at 210-11.) During an interview conducted shortly thereafter, Andrea disclaimed knowing Leerdam and said that she had never seen her before. ( Id. at 211-12.) She stated that she was doing a favor for her nephew by helping to get Leerdam situated in a hotel, and that she had no intention of bringing Leerdam into her house. ( Id. at 212.) Andrea also noted that she did not know what was in the suitcases and that it was a mistake to do this favor for her nephew. ( Id. ) At a subsequent interview in the early morning at the ICE office at JFK Airport, Andrea was again advised of and waived her Miranda rights, and noted that she had in fact met Leerdam approximately two months prior, but that she didn't know her name. ( Id. at 282.) Julio was also advised of and waived his Miranda rights during an interview at the ICE office, and he stated that he had done a favor for his nephew by picking Leerdam up, taking her to a hotel, and dropping her off at JFK Airport. ( Id. at 284-85.) He denied giving Leerdam any money. ( Id. at 285, 313.) The trial commenced on December 4, 2006, and the jury returned its verdict on December 7, 2006. Andrea Lorenzo's judgment of conviction was entered on April 4, 2007; Julio Lorenzo's was entered on May 1, 2007. Both defendants-appellants filed timely notices of appeal, and these appeals followed.