Opinion ID: 1039752
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: June 23, 2011 Sting Operation and Arrest

Text: 2 Case: 11-15517 Date Filed: 09/04/2013 Page: 3 of 20 In May 2011, Agent Erik Espinosa of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) posed as a “disgruntled drug courier working for a Colombian drug organization.” Agent Espinosa contacted Jorge GonzalezZulueta because Agent Espinosa thought he “had information about a crew of individuals committing armed home invasion type robberies in the [s]outh Florida region.” Agent Espinosa recruited Gonzalez-Zulueta to rob a “stash house,” telling him that the home would contain between 10 and 15 kilograms of cocaine. Two other individuals also agreed to participate in the robbery—Daniel Abreu-Jimenez and Antonio Hernandez-Galindo. After a fourth prospective robber dropped out of the conspiracy, Abreu-Jimenez recruited two more accomplices—defendant Valdes and Youany Olivera-Garcia. Abreu-Jimenez assured the undercover ATF agent that Valdes and Olivera-Garcia were competent robbers, stating that “we could tell them, ‘Look, there’s a bazooka in there[’] and they will look for a tank for sure.” On June 23, 2011, ATF agents executed the sting operation. A confidential informant (“CI”), posing as Agent Espinosa’s uncle, met the five would-be robbers—defendant Valdes and Gonzalez-Zulueta, Abreu-Jimenez, HernandezGalindo, and Olivera-Garcia—at a predetermined location. Traveling in two vehicles, the CI directed the conspirators to a warehouse. The conspirators 3 Case: 11-15517 Date Filed: 09/04/2013 Page: 4 of 20 believed that they would meet Agent Espinosa there, and that he would then lead them to the stash house. When the group arrived at the warehouse, the CI exited one of the vehicles, and entered the warehouse. Afterwards, law enforcement officers surrounded the two vehicles and arrested the five conspirators. After making the arrests, law enforcement officers seized two firearms and ammunition from the vehicle in which defendant Valdes had been a passenger. One of those weapons, a Glock .40 caliber pistol, belonged to Valdes.