Court Opinion

ID: 9838330
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-06 00:00:27.903855+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:18.257406
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-40774        Document: 00516883772             Page: 1      Date Filed: 09/05/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit                                         United States Court of Appeals
                                     ____________                                        Fifth Circuit

                                                                                       FILED
                                      No. 22-40774                              September 5, 2023
                                     ____________                                    Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                                          Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                      Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Felix Lerma,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                         for the Southern District of Texas
                              USDC No. 1:20-CR-411-1
                     ______________________________

   Before Dennis, Engelhardt, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
         Felix Lerma was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to possess with
   intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, possession of 50
   grams or more of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to
   import 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and importation of 50 grams
   or more of methamphetamine. On appeal, Lerma contends that the evidence

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-40774      Document: 00516883772           Page: 2   Date Filed: 09/05/2023

                                     No. 22-40774

   at trial was insufficient to sustain his convictions. For the reasons set forth
   below, we AFFIRM.
                                            I.
          The following relevant evidence was offered at trial: On June 17,
   2020, Lerma, who was roughly 73 years old, drove from Texas to Mexico in
   a Chevrolet Tahoe. The car had standard tires. When he returned to Texas
   a few hours later, he told a border-patrol officer that there were no drugs in
   his car and that his reason for travel that day was to visit his brother and to
   shop for groceries. An x-ray examination of the car revealed anomalies within
   the tires that otherwise were indiscernible. A canine unit arrived and alerted
   to the presence of drugs in the tires.
          Border-patrol officers removed one of the wheels and discovered
   “metal casings or metal collars wrapped around the wheel, which were
   welded to the wheel.” The metal casing, which was a customization to the
   car, was determined to contain a substance that, according to field tests, was
   methamphetamine. An examination of the remaining tires revealed that they
   also had metal casings containing methamphetamine. The drugs were
   estimated to be worth between $156,000 and $280,800 in the United States.
   Agents recalled that the tires were too heavy to lift, that the welding was
   “really well done,” and that the car seemed to have directional tires that were
   improperly installed. Moreover, one agent noted that the “vehicle behind
   the fender well had water like [it] had driven on a wet surface” but that “the
   rims and tires were dry and did not have any signs of being driven through a
   wet surface.”
          In an ensuing interview with agents from the Department of
   Homeland Security Investigations, Lerma stated that he traveled to Mexico
   in the morning to visit his sick brother. He denied knowledge of the drugs or
   involvement in drug smuggling and stated that he did not know why he was

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                                      No. 22-40774

   detained. He was unsure when the drugs could have been placed in his
   wheels and suggested that he was aware of the location of his vehicle at all
   times; he recalled that he went to a car wash, that he was inside a restaurant
   with his nephew for “an hour and a half” and that it started to rain at that
   time.
           Following a trial, a jury convicted him of the charged offenses. Lerma
   filed a timely notice of appeal.
                                          II.
           Because Lerma preserved his sufficiency challenge, our review is de
   novo; the verdict will be upheld if a reasonable trier of fact could have found
   that the evidence established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States
   v. Alaniz, 726 F.3d 586, 600-01 (5th Cir. 2013). Review of the sufficiency of
   the evidence is highly deferential to the verdict, United States v. Davis, 735
   F.3d 194, 198 (5th Cir. 2013) (citation omitted), and the evidence and all
   reasonable inferences are to be resolved in favor of the jury’s determination
   of guilt, United States v. Resio-Trejo, 45 F.3d 907, 911 (5th Cir. 1995).
                                          III.
           Lerma argues that there was insufficient evidence to establish that he
   knew that there was methamphetamine in compartments hidden in the tires
   of his vehicle. He asserts that his control of the vehicle did not prove his
   knowledge because the methamphetamine was hidden and argues that there
   otherwise was inadequate circumstantial evidence to establish his guilty
   knowledge. He thus contends that the evidence did not prove the knowledge
   element for his convictions for possession of methamphetamine with intent
   to distribute and for importation of methamphetamine.
           This court has listed factors that qualify as circumstantial evidence of
   guilty knowledge in hidden compartment cases. See United States v. Ortega-

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   Reyna, 148 F.3d 540, 544 (5th Cir. 1998), abrogated on other grounds by United
   States v. Vargas-Ocampo, 747 F.3d 299, 302-03 & n.2 (5th Cir. 2014) (en
   banc). Lerma argues that none of these factors was present. However, this
   court has not held those factors to be exhaustive. Cf. Ortega-Reyna, 148 F.3d
   at 544 (noting that factors were representative of behavior that could qualify
   as circumstantial evidence). Rather, the issue is whether the evidence as a
   whole provides a substantial basis for the jury to conclude that the knowledge
   element was satisfied. See United States v. Miller, 146 F.3d 274, 281 (5th Cir.
   1998) (citation omitted).
          Here, the evidence and all reasonable inferences, when viewed in the
   light most favorable to the verdict, would allow a reasonable jury to find that
   Lerma knew about the methamphetamine in the tires. See Davis, 735 F.3d at
   198; Resio-Trejo, 45 F.3d at 911. The evidence proved Lerma’s ownership of
   the vehicle, and there was no evidence that his vehicle had been stolen or
   borrowed. As the owner of the vehicle, Lerma had control over who used it
   and how it was used. See Resio-Trejo, 45 F.3d at 912. Also, it is undisputed
   that the tires on the vehicle were replaced on the same day that the hidden
   compartments were discovered. Evidence of recent alterations to create a
   secret compartment used to transport drugs, coupled with possession of the
   vehicle, supports an inference of guilty knowledge. See United States v. Gil-
   Cruz, 808 F.3d 274, 277 (5th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted). The value of the
   methamphetamine found in Lerma’s vehicle additionally supports the
   verdict. See United States v. Villarreal, 324 F.3d 319, 324 (5th Cir. 2003)
   (citations omitted). It is implausible someone would take Lerma’s vehicle,
   replace his tires with new wheels in which compartments containing valuable
   drugs had been welded, and then return the vehicle to him, an unknowing
   participant. See Resio-Trejo, 45 F.3d at 913. The evidence adduced at trial
   otherwise could support the inference that Lerma drove to Mexico and
   sought to return on the same day with a load of methamphetamine. While it

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   may have been reasonable for the jury to find that Lerma was duped into
   transporting drugs, the evidence need not exclude every reasonable
   hypothesis of innocence or be inconsistent with every conclusion except that
   of guilt. See United States v. Lankford, 196 F.3d 563, 575 (5th Cir. 1999).
                                         IV.
          Lerma also contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his
   conspiracy convictions. He asserts that there was insufficient proof that he
   agreed with another person to violate the law because no proof was presented
   to confirm the identity and participation of any coconspirator.
          A defendant may be convicted of conspiring with unknown persons if
   the indictment alleges that other persons exist, as in the instant case, and the
   evidence supports their existence and the existence of a conspiracy. United
   States v. Hernandez–Palacios, 838 F.2d 1346, 1348-49 (5th Cir. 1988) (citation
   omitted).   Here, the evidence included testimony as to the necessary
   involvement of multiple actors and supported the inference that there was a
   concert of action between Lerma and coconspirators. See United States v.
   Stephens, 571 F.3d 401, 404 (5th Cir. 2009). The evidence suggested that
   people other than Lerma were involved in, inter alia, building the
   compartments in which the drugs were concealed and placing the new wheels
   on Lerma’s vehicle. See United States v. Vasquez, 677 F.3d 685, 694 (5th Cir.
   2012). The weight and the value of the methamphetamine hidden in the
   wheels also support the inference that other people were involved. See
   Vasquez, 677 F.3d at 694 & n.3; United States v. Gutierrez-Farias, 294 F.3d
   657, 661 (5th Cir. 2002). A jury reasonably could have found that Lerma at
   least tacitly agreed with others to act pursuant to an agreement to violate the
   federal narcotics laws. See Vasquez, 677 F.3d at 694; Gutierrez-Farias, 294
   F.3d at 661. The failure to prove the identities of the coconspirators is

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   immaterial. See Vasquez, 677 F.3d at 694; Hernandez–Palacios, 838 F.2d at
   1348-49.
                                      V.
         The judgment is AFFIRMED.

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