Opinion ID: 621480
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Diaz-Pellegaud

Text: We consider challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction de novo but consider the evidence presented in the light most favorable to the government, resolving conflicts in the government's favor, and accepting all reasonable inferences that support the verdict. United States v. Yarrington, 634 F.3d 440, 449 (8th Cir.2011) (quoting United States v. Scofield, 433 F.3d 580, 584-85 (8th Cir.2006)). Reversal for evidentiary insufficiency is only warranted when, based on the evidence before it, no reasonable jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Espinosa, 585 F.3d 418, 423 (8th Cir.2009) (quoting United States v. Thompson, 533 F.3d 964, 970 (8th Cir. 2008)). Diaz-Pellegaud was convicted at trial of conspiring to launder money in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). Conspiring to launder money ... requires that the defendant `agreed with another person to violate the substantive provisions of the money-laundering statute.' United States v. Heid, 651 F.3d 850, 854 (8th Cir.2011) (quoting United States v. Hynes, 467 F.3d 951, 964 (6th Cir.2006)). The substantive money laundering provision that Diaz-Pellegaud was convicted of having conspired to violate has four elements: (1) that the defendant conducted or attempted to conduct a financial transaction that affected interstate or foreign commerce; (2) that the financial transaction involved property representing the proceeds of illegal activity; (3) that the defendant knew that the property represented the proceeds of illegal activity; and (4) that the defendant conducted the financial transaction knowing that the transaction was intended to promote the carrying on of illegal activity. 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(A)(i); see United States v. Slagg, 651 F.3d 832, 844 (8th Cir.2011). Bank account deposits count as financial transactions for the purposes of the money laundering statute. 18 U.S.C. § 1956(c)(3). For example, in United States v. Johnson, 619 F.3d 910 (8th Cir. 2010), we upheld a promotion-of-illegal-activity money laundering conviction based on the defendant's deposits of the proceeds of methamphetamine sales into a bank account controlled by a co-conspirator. Id. at 919-20. Diaz-Pellegaud argues that the Government did not introduce any evidence connecting him to any financial transactions and that all the Government showed was that he read a series of numbers which correlated to Wells Fargo bank accounts over the phone to a co-conspirator, Dario Verdugo-Galaviz. He also argues that there is little to corroborate the trial testimony of Verdugo-Galaviz. Verdugo-Galaviz testified that both he and a fellow drug dealer named Carlos Clemente Camargo Perez-Pantaleon had deposited money from their Sioux Falls drug distribution operation into bank accounts designated by Diaz-Pellegaud in order to pay him for drugs. As the payments continued, drugs continued to arrive in Sioux Falls. Evidence from other cooperating witnesses established that money from the accounts was later withdrawn in Phoenix. The jury was entitled to credit such testimony. See United States v. Boyce, 564 F.3d 911, 916 (8th Cir.2009) (holding that a fact-finder's determination as to the credibility of a witness is virtually unreviewable on appeal). Viewing all the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government and accepting all reasonable inferences, Yarrington, 634 F.3d at 449, a reasonable jury could find that Diaz-Pellegaud agreed with Verdugo-Galaviz and Camargo that they would deposit the proceeds from their drug sales into his bank accounts to pay Diaz-Pellegaud for the drugs he was supplying and to ensure their continued supply of drugs. Given that their deposits would be violations of § 1956(a)(1)(A)(i), Johnson, 619 F.3d at 919-20, this agreement would be sufficient to support the conviction of Diaz-Pellegaud for conspiracy under § 1956(h). Therefore, we affirm this conviction.
Diaz-Pellegaud next challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for his convictions for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and conspiring to distribute marijuana, both in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. To establish that a defendant conspired to distribute drugs under 21 U.S.C. § 846, the government must prove: (1) that there was a conspiracy, i.e., an agreement to distribute the drugs; (2) that the defendant knew of the conspiracy; and (3) that the defendant intentionally joined the conspiracy. United States v. Jiminez, 487 F.3d 1140, 1146 (8th Cir.2007) (quoting United States v. Espino, 317 F.3d 788, 792 (8th Cir.2003)). Detailed evidence supports these convictions. Verdugo-Galaviz testified at trial that Diaz-Pellegaud approached him in Phoenix, proposing that he sell drugs for him and recruit others to do the same. Verdugo-Galaviz stated that he agreed to this proposal and then successfully recruited others to distribute and personally distributed both methamphetamine and marijuana that he received from Diaz-Pellegaud. Verdugo-Galaviz described how he, Diaz-Pellegaud, and others would unload methamphetamine and marijuana from hidden compartments in freight trains in locations including Fargo, North Dakota, and Salt Lake City, Utah. He also explained how, working with others, he began to distribute Diaz-Pellegaud's drugs in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Other drug dealers corroborated this account of Diaz-Pellegaud's central role in both the smuggling and distribution of drugs. Once again, the jury's determinations of witness credibility are virtually unreviewable on appeal. Boyce, 564 F.3d at 916 (quoting United States v. Gomez-Perez, 452 F.3d 739, 743 (8th Cir.2006)). Diaz-Pellegaud's alias Fael also was found in a drug ledger found at the Menlo Avenue house, and he personally was arrested in a pickup truck containing approximately 160 pounds of marijuana. The evidence presented, considered in the light most favorable to the government, resolving conflicts in the government's favor, and accepting all reasonable inferences that support the verdict, Yarrington, 634 F.3d at 449, was easily sufficient to support the jury's convictions on both conspiracy counts. Accordingly, we affirm these convictions.