Court Opinion

ID: 9958833
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-10 00:00:32.694593+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:17:44.419712
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-50277           Document: 106-1           Page: 1     Date Filed: 04/09/2024

           United States Court of Appeals
                for the Fifth Circuit
                                   ____________
                                                                             United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                      Fifth Circuit
                                    No. 23-50277
                                  Summary Calendar                                   FILED
                                  ____________                                     April 9, 2024
                                                                               Lyle W. Cayce
United States of America,                                                           Clerk

                                                                    Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                          versus

Jorge Luis Sanchez Morales; Luis Reyes-Perez

                                           Defendants—Appellants.
                   ______________________________

                   Appeal from the United States District Court
                        for the Western District of Texas
                    USDC Nos. 3:19-CR-308-1, 3:19-CR-308-3
                   ______________________________

Before Richman, Chief Judge, Oldham, and Ramirez, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam: *
       Jorge Luis Sanchez Morales and Luis Reyes-Perez appeal their
convictions related to their participation in a drug trafficking organization.
Following a jury trial, Sanchez Morales was convicted of conspiracy to
possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine (Count
One); conspiracy to import five kilograms or more of cocaine (Count Two);

       _____________________
       *
           This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-50277       Document: 106-1       Page: 2    Date Filed: 04/09/2024

                                 No. 23-50277

conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture
or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine (Count
Three); conspiracy to import 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance
containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine (Count Four);
conspiracy to commit international money laundering (Count Six); and
conspiracy to launder monetary instruments (Count Seven). Following the
same jury trial, Reyes-Perez was convicted of conspiracy to possess with
intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a
detectable amount of methamphetamine (Count Three) and conspiracy to
import 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable
amount of methamphetamine (Count Four). Both Sanchez Morales and
Reyes-Perez challenge the district court’s denial of their motion for a
judgment of acquittal on all relevant counts of the indictment. We affirm.
                                      I.
       From 2002 to 2019, Sanchez Morales led a drug trafficking
organization in Atlanta, Georgia. Sanchez Morales arranged for
methamphetamine and cocaine to be smuggled from Mexico into El Paso,
Texas, stored in stash houses, and then transported via modified semi-trucks
cross-country to Atlanta, Georgia. Money would then flow back to drug
cartels in Mexico. Starting in 2013, Reyes-Perez transported the drugs in a
yellow semi-truck.
       A few key discoveries led to Sanchez Morales’s and Reyes-Perez’s
arrests. In 2015, officers in Clint, Texas, raided a stash house and discovered
several five-gallon buckets of liquid methamphetamine. A few months later,
officers in Georgia stopped a truck leaving a suspected stash house and
discovered a load of methamphetamine and cocaine. A surveillance camera
monitoring the Georgia stash house then caught Reyes-Perez arriving in his
yellow semi-truck and watching as other members of the organization

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                                  No. 23-50277

unloaded liquid methamphetamine. In 2016, officers in Texas stopped an
SUV and discovered about 15 kilograms of methamphetamine. The SUV’s
driver worked for Sanchez Morales. And later that year, the DEA raided a
methamphetamine lab in Georgia, discovering materials used to convert
liquid methamphetamine into crystal form and $10,000 cash. Through these
and other investigations, officers discovered or arrested several members of
the drug trafficking organization. Some members then became informants
pursuant to either plea deals or paid arrangements. Finally, based in part on
information from several coconspirator informants, Sanchez Morales and
Reyes-Perez were indicted for their roles in the conspiracy.
       At trial, five members of the drug trafficking organization testified.
The testimony covered the structure of the organization, Sanchez Morales’s
role as the organization’s “boss,” ROA.758, the mechanics of smuggling
liquid methamphetamine in the semi-trucks, and Reyes-Perez’s role driving
his yellow semi. The jury convicted Sanchez Morales and Reyes-Perez for
offenses relating to their respective roles in the conspiracies.
                                       II.
       Because Sanchez Morales moved for a judgment of acquittal on all
counts in the indictment at the close of the Government’s case and did not
present any evidence, he properly preserved his sufficiency of the evidence
claim. See United States v. Daniels, 723 F.3d 562, 569 (5th Cir. 2013), modified
in part on reh’g, 729 F.3d 496 (5th Cir. 2013). We review sufficiency claims
de novo. United States v. Ragsdale, 426 F.3d 765, 770 (5th Cir. 2005). The
verdict will be affirmed if “a reasonable trier of fact could conclude from the
evidence that the elements of the offense were established beyond a
reasonable doubt, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the
verdict and drawing all reasonable inferences from the evidence to support

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                                 No. 23-50277

the verdict.” Id. at 770–71 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
We take the drug trafficking and money laundering counts in turn.
       First, the drug trafficking conspiracy. To support a conviction for
conspiracy to import drugs or to possess drugs with the intent to distribute,
the government must prove “(1) the existence of an agreement to import or
to possess with intent to distribute; (2) knowledge of the agreement; and
(3) voluntary participation in the agreement.” United States v. Lara, 23 F.4th
459, 470–71 (5th Cir. 2022). Here, Sanchez Morales challenges only that he
knowingly and voluntarily participated in such agreements.
       Several members of the cocaine and methamphetamine conspiracies
testified at trial. They identified Sanchez Morales, described meeting him,
and described him as the boss of the drug trafficking organization. Based on
this testimony, a reasonable jury could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt
that Sanchez Morales not only knowingly and voluntarily participated in the
aforementioned drug trafficking conspiracies, but that he was a leader in the
conspiracies. See Ragsdale, 426 F.3d at 770–71. Although a vast majority of
this evidence came from coconspirators’ testimony, that testimony was not
“incredible or insubstantial on its face.” United States v. Bermea, 30 F.3d
1539, 1552 (5th Cir. 1994). Moreover, although Sanchez Morales challenges
the testimony primarily by attacking the witnesses’ credibility, credibility
determinations are left to the jury. See United States v. Barnes, 803 F.3d 209,
216 (5th Cir. 2015). Accordingly, the district court did not err by denying
Sanchez Morales’s motion for a judgment of acquittal as to Count One,
Count Two, Count Three, and Count Four. See Ragsdale, 426 F.3d at 770–
71.
       Second, the money laundering conspiracy. “To establish conspiracy
to commit money laundering, the government must prove (1) that there was
an agreement between two or more persons to commit money laundering and

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(2) that the defendant joined the agreement knowing its purpose and with the
intent to further the illegal purpose.” United States v. Cessa, 785 F.3d 165, 173
(5th Cir. 2015) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Here,
Sanchez Morales challenges only his knowing and voluntary participation in
the agreements to commit domestic and international money laundering.
       Just like the drug trafficking counts, a reasonable jury could conclude
beyond a reasonable doubt that Sanchez Morales knowingly and voluntarily
participated in the money laundering conspiracies because he directed
members of the conspiracies to open bank accounts, orchestrated the deposit
of drug proceeds into such accounts, directed members of the conspiracies
regarding what to do with the drug proceeds, and made all the decisions
regarding the drug proceeds. See Ragsdale, 426 F.3d at 770–71. Again, the
coconspirator testimony establishing these facts was not “incredible or
insubstantial on its face.” Bermea, 30 F.3d at 1552. And again, the jury was
free to determine that the coconspirators were credible witnesses. Cf. Barnes,
803 F.3d at 216. Accordingly, the district court did not err by denying
Sanchez Morales’s motion for a judgment of acquittal as to Count Six and
Count Seven. See Ragsdale, 426 F.3d at 770–71.
                                      III.
       Reyes-Perez also moved for judgment of acquittal at the close of the
Government’s evidence. But Reyes-Perez then stipulated to an exhibit and
did not renew his motion. This limited reopening likely does not affect our
standard of review, see United States v. DeLeon, 641 F.2d 330, 333 (5th Cir.
1981), but we need not decide whether Reyes-Perez sufficiently preserved his
insufficiency challenge because the evidence is sufficient to support his
conviction, even under the more lenient de novo standard. See United States
v. Davis, 690 F.3d 330, 336–37 (5th Cir. 2012).

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                                 No. 23-50277

       Here, Reyes-Perez challenges only the sufficiency of the evidence
supporting his knowledge of and voluntarily participation in agreements to
import and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture
or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine. At trial,
three coconspirators testified about Reyes-Perez’s participation in the
methamphetamine conspiracies. This testimony was corroborated by
surveillance footage, photographs, and Reyes-Perez’s stipulation. In light of
this evidence, a reasonable jury could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt
that   Reyes-Perez   knowingly     and    voluntarily    participated   in   the
aforementioned methamphetamine conspiracies. See Ragsdale, 426 F.3d at
770–71. Accordingly, the district court did not err by denying his motion for
a judgment of acquittal as to Count Three and Count Four. See id.
       AFFIRMED.

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