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

Heading: The September Trip

Text: Prior to Leerdam's first trip to the U.S., Amauri told her to pack her clothing into a suitcase and take a taxi to a store. ( Id. at 146.) Upon arrival, Leerdam met Amauri's girlfriend, Camelina, with whom she went to a nearby hotel, where Amauri arrived and instructed Leerdam to transfer her clothing from her suitcase to one that he provided for her. ( Id. at 147.) At the hotel, he gave Leerdam an airplane ticket, her passport, $100 in cash, and a piece of paper with an address on it, and instructed her to buy a phone card upon her arrival in the U.S. in order to call him for further instructions. ( Id. at 147-48.) On September 1, 2005, Leerdam departed from the Santo Domingo Airport for JFK Airport. She passed through customs at JFK Airport without incident, purchased a phone card, and called Amauri for further instructions; he told her to take a taxi to Corona, Queens. At the location in Corona to which her taxi was directed, two men were waiting, and one greeted her and eventually introduced himself as Ronnie. ( Id. at 152-53.) Ronnie paid the taxi driver and removed the suitcase from the cab. Leerdam entered a different vehicle with Ronnie and the other individual, and they drove to Ronnie's apartment in Pennsylvania. At Ronnie's apartment, Ronnie took Leerdam's suitcase into a bedroom, from which he emerged with a different suitcase. ( Id. at 154.) Eventually, Ronnie and the other individual drove Leerdam back to Corona, Queens. In Corona, a white S.U.V. pulled up, and Ronnie exited the car to speak with the driver of the S.U.V., Julio Lorenzo. ( Id. at 155.) Ronnie and Julio spoke for approximately 5 minutes; Leerdam was unable to hear the contents of their conversation. ( Id. ) Ronnie then told Leerdam to go to the S.U.V., which Julio had exited in order to get the suitcase. ( Id. ) Upon entering the S.U.V., Leerdam met Andrea Lorenzo for the first time; Andrea asked Leerdam how did it go for [you], ( id. at 157), and noted that Amauri had called and asked the Lorenzos to take Leerdam to a nearby hotel, ( id. at 157-58). At the hotel, Andrea stayed in the S.U.V., while Julio accompanied Leerdam to the reception desk and paid for one night's stay. Julio then escorted Leerdam up to the room, and told Leerdam to call him if she needed anything. ( Id. at 158-59.) The next day, September 4, 2005, Julio returned to the hotel with a brown bag containing $14,000 that he told Leerdam was for Amauri, and wrapped the cash inside clothing in her suitcase. ( Id. at 161.) Julio took Leerdam to JFK Airport and accompanied her to the terminal from which her return flight was departing and stayed with her until she checked her luggage. ( Id. at 161-63.) When Leerdam arrived in Santo Domingo, she retrieved her suitcase and received a phone call from Camelina, who picked Leerdam up and took her to a nearby hotel. ( Id. at 164.) At the hotel, Camelina counted the money in Leerdam's suitcase; Amauri called Camelina to see if everything was complete, ( id. at 165), which Camelina confirmed. Camelina then gave Leerdam $3,000. ( Id. ) At trial, Leerdam admitted that she had never seen the contents of the suitcase during this trip, ( id. at 191), though she simply assumed that there were drugs therein because Amauri told her so, ( id. at 187-88).