Opinion ID: 743509
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Oziel

Text: 25 Oziel also contends that insufficient evidence exists to support his conviction. Oziel argues that his name on the drug ledgers found in Inocencio's residence, and his mere presence in Tovar's car, are the principal evidentiary pieces linking him to this conspiracy and, these facts alone, cannot support a conviction. 26 The government presented evidence that a notebook with a picture of a Killer Whale found at Inocencio's home had a written entry that Oziel received 25 kilograms of cocaine on the day he was arrested. Officers found cocaine with a label of the red ace of clubs and $2,285 in cash in the car occupied by Tovar and Oziel. Identically labeled packages of cocaine were found in Tovar and Inocencio's homes. Oziel's fingerprints were found on a box containing two of the six kilograms of cocaine inside Tovar's home. Further, Oziel was a passenger in Tovar's car on the same day that Tovar met with Garcia and Garza. Evidence also showed that Oziel entered the United States the day before his arrest. This evidence, taken together could lead a reasonable jury to conclude that Oziel was in fact involved in this conspiracy. As such, we hold that sufficient evidence exists to support his conviction. 27 3. Sufficiency of the Evidence--Money Laundering 28 Garza and Garcia contend that insufficient evidence exists to support their convictions under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(a)(1)(A)(i) and 1956(g) for money laundering. 4 To secure a conviction for conspiracy to commit money laundering, the government must prove that the defendants knew of the conspiracy and voluntarily joined it. United States v. Ismoila, 100 F.3d 380, 387 (5th Cir.1996). As to money laundering, the government must prove that the defendants (1) knowingly conducted a financial transaction (2) that involved the proceeds of an unlawful activity (3) with the intent to promote or further that unlawful activity. United States v. Thomas, 12 F.3d 1350, 1360 (5th Cir.1994). 29 Garza and Garcia maintain that the government has failed to show any agreement by them to engage in any financial transaction. Garza and Garcia also argue that, in fact, no evidence exists to show that a financial transaction occurred. According to Garza and Garcia, the only evidence identified by the government consists of storage of currency and cocaine at Inocencio's Mavis Lane residence. No proof of wire transfers or other transactions involving currency was presented. 30 After reviewing the record, we agree with Garza and Garcia. The government failed to present evidence of a financial transaction involving these defendants. A financial transaction pursuant to § 1956 is a transaction which in any way or degree affects interstate or foreign commerce (i) involving the movement of funds by wire or other means or (ii) involving one or more monetary instruments.... 18 U.S.C. § 1956(c)(4)(A). By definition, then, a 'financial transaction' must, at the very least, be a 'transaction,' i.e., 'a purchase, sale, loan, pledge, gift, transfer, delivery, or other disposition' or some action involving a financial institution or its facilities. United States v. Puig-Infante, 19 F.3d 929, 938 (5th Cir.1994) (citing 18 U.S.C. § 1956(c)(3)). 31 When some transaction that does not involve a financial institution or its facilities is charged, the government must show that a disposition took place. A disposition has been defined by this Court to mean  'a placing elsewhere, a giving over to the care or possession of another.'  Id. (quoting WEBSTER'S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY, 654 (1961)). We also note that currency does not become proceeds of drug trafficking until a drug sale has been completed. See United States v. Gaytan, 74 F.3d 545, 555-56 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 77, 136 L.Ed.2d 36 (1996). 32 In this case, the government argues that the collection of more than $11 million in less than a six week period of time, Oziel's presence from Mexico, and the presence of $5 million in drug proceeds support the inference of a disposition of the drug proceeds handled by Garcia and Garza and the inference of intent to commit money laundering.... Notwithstanding this inference-filled expose', currency found by officers in connection with a drug trafficking offense, by itself, is insufficient evidence to support a money laundering conviction. See Puig-Infante, 19 F.3d at 938; United States v. Ramirez, 954 F.2d 1035, 1039-40 (5th Cir.1992). 33 The government presented evidence that $2 million in proceeds had been collected and forwarded to Colombian producers and a stockpile of $5 million in cash was found at Inocencio's residence. However, no evidence was presented that Garza or Garcia handled these proceeds or were, in any way, involved in the disposition of these funds. While the jury may draw reasonable inferences from the evidence presented, nothing reasonable could be inferred from this evidence. As such, we reverse Garza's and Garcia's convictions for money laundering and remand their cases to the district court for resentencing in light of this disposition. 4. Evidentiary Rulings 34 Garza and Oziel contend that the district court abused its discretion by admitting extrinsic evidence of silencers and silencer-making materials found in Tovar's apartment in violation of FED. R. EVID. 404(b). The government contends that this issue was not properly raised in the trial court and, therefore, should be reviewed only for plain error. See United States v. Misher, 99 F.3d 664, 670 (5th Cir.1996). 35 Even if objections to the admission of this evidence were properly raised, we find no abuse of discretion with respect to its admission. The silencers and silencer-making materials were found contemporaneously with the six kilograms of cocaine found in Tovar's apartment. Firearms and silencers are deemed to be parts of the tools-of-the-trade of drug trafficking and are relevant intrinsic proof of an ongoing conspiracy. As such, this evidence tends to show that the defendants were involved in a major drug trafficking conspiracy complete with a number of firearms and silencers. 36 Additionally, the district court properly determined that the probative value of the evidence was not substantially outweighed by its potential prejudicial effect. FED. R. EVID. 403. Danger of prejudice is always present. Consequently, exclusion of extrinsic evidence based on its prejudicial effect should occur only sparingly. See United States v. Leahy, 82 F.3d 624, 637 (5th Cir.1996) (quoting United States v. Pace, 10 F.3d 1106, 1115 (5th Cir.1993)). Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm the decision of the district court to admit evidence of the silencers and silencer-parts discovered in Tovar's apartment. 5. Sentencing Issues 37 Oziel contends that the district court erred in enhancing his base offense level by two levels for possession of firearms pursuant to United States Sentencing Guidelines (U.S.S.G.) § 2D1.1(b)(1). Section 2D1.1(b)(1) provides for a two-level increase to the base offense level if a dangerous weapon was possessed during the commission of a drug trafficking offense. Oziel argues that he did not possess a firearm and that he had no knowledge of the firearms that were recovered. He further asserts that it was not foreseeable that his co-defendants would possess firearms, especially in light of that fact that he arrived in Houston from Mexico only 48 hours before his arrest. 38 We review a district court's decision to apply § 2D1.1(b)(1) for clear error. See United States v. Rodriguez, 62 F.3d 723, 724 (5th Cir.1995). Although a conviction on a substantive count requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the district court may sentence a defendant within the Sentencing Guidelines on any relevant evidence that has sufficient indicia of reliability to support its probable accuracy. U.S.S.G. § 6A1.3; see also United States v. Buchanan, 70 F.3d 818, 828 (5th Cir.1995), cert. denied, 517 U.S. 1114, 116 S.Ct. 1340, 134 L.Ed.2d 490 (1996). Further, once the government establishes that a firearm was present during the offense, the adjustment should be applied unless it is clearly improbable that the weapon was connected with the offense. U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(1), comment. (n.3). In this case, there is no question that the firearms were connected with this offense. Firearms and cocaine were found in vehicles, in an apartment, and in a house, and all the evidence was connected to the defendants. 39 Oziel's contention that the firearms were not foreseeable also fails. We have held that a district court  'may ordinarily infer that a defendant should have foreseen a codefendant's possession of a dangerous weapon, such as a firearm, if the government demonstrates that another participant knowingly possessed a weapon while he and the defendant committed the offense.'  United States v. Sparks, 2 F.3d 574, 587 (5th Cir.1993) (quoting United States v. Aguilera-Zapata, 901 F.2d 1209, 1215 (5th Cir.1990)). It was readily foreseeable that firearms would be employed as tools of the drug trafficking trade. As such, we find no error, clear or otherwise, with the district court's application of § 2D1.1(b)(1). 40 Next, Oziel argues that the district court erred in denying his motion for a downward adjustment for his mitigating role in the offense under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2. Oziel relies primarily on his responsibility for only 25 kilograms of the 1,555.5 kilograms of cocaine attributable to the conspiracy. He contends his amount of cocaine represents a mere two percent of the total. However, Oziel has not demonstrated that he was substantially less culpable than the other participants in this conspiracy, and, as a result, we find no clear error. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b); United States v. Brown, 54 F.3d 234, 241 (5th Cir.1995). 41 Finally, Garcia contends that the district court erred in sentencing him based on the quantity of cocaine memorialized in the drug ledgers seized from Inocencio's residence. Garcia maintains that he was only in Inocencio's house for two days and that the government failed to show that he ever bought, sold, traded, transported or delivered any of the cocaine found in the house. Further, the district court erred by failing to make specific fact findings concerning the quantity of cocaine attributable to each defendant. 42 Assuming Garcia properly preserved these issues for appeal, we find no clear error with the district court's decision to assign more than 150 kilograms to Garcia. See Rodriguez, 62 F.3d at 724. The evidence and testimony at trial clearly demonstrated that the cocaine and money found in Inocencio's house and in Tovar's apartment were the product and proceeds of this extensive drug trafficking operation. Evidence also showed that Garcia was present inside Inocencio's house and that he handled adding machine tapes and drug ledgers. Garcia's fingerprints were found on adding machine tapes, drug ledgers, and on a box containing currency. He had direct contact with Inocencio and Garza, he received two firearms from Inocencio, and cocaine residue was found on the adding machine tapes and ledgers. 43 Under the Sentencing Guidelines, a defendant who participates in a drug conspiracy is accountable for the quantity of drugs which is attributable to the conspiracy and reasonably foreseeable to him. United States v. Mitchell, 31 F.3d 271, 277 (5th Cir.1994); see also U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3(a)(1)(B). The district court adopted the presentence report which specifically set out Garcia's involvement in this conspiracy. Based on the evidence presented, the district court did not err in attributing more than 150 kilograms of cocaine to Garcia for sentencing purposes.