United States v. Alejandro Sotelo

707 F. App'x 77
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedSeptember 26, 2017
Docket16-3599, 16-3648
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 707 F. App'x 77 (United States v. Alejandro Sotelo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Alejandro Sotelo, 707 F. App'x 77 (3d Cir. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION *

CHAGARES, Circuit Judge.

Alexander Sotelo and Francisco Gonzalez Jose were convicted by a jury of conspiracy, drug trafficking, and money laundering charges. The District Court sentenced Sotelo to 210 months of imprisonment and Gonzalez Jose to 220 months of imprisonment. Sotelo and Gonzalez appeal the District Court’s judgments of conviction and sentence on various bases. For the reasons that follow, we will affirm in all respects.

I.

A.

We write solely for the parties’ benefit and thus recite only the facts necessary to our disposition. On May 6, 2015, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Sotelo, Gonzalez Jose, and others with conspiracy, drug trafficking, money laundering, and related crimes. 1 The charges were related to the activities of a drug trafficking organization led by Antonio and Ismael Laredo. The organization imported heroin from Mexico into the United States. The heroin would be sent to Philadelphia, where it was eventually distributed to other dealers. The proceeds would be laundered back to Mexico via, inter alia, physical bulk cash shipments secreted in vehicles and suitcases, small Western Union wire transfers, and structured deposits into funnel accounts at banks.

The indictment alleged that Sotelo received shipments of heroin in Chicago and coordinated the transportation of the drugs to Philadelphia. The indictment further alleged that Gonzalez Jose served as a Philadelphia-based distributer of the heroin. Finally, the indictment asserted that Sotelo and Gonzalez Jose took steps to conceal and transport the proceeds of the Laredo organization’s drug distribution.

The indictment charged both Sotelo and Jose on Count 1 (conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(b)(1)(A)), Count 2 (conspiracy to import one kilogram or more of heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 968, 960(b)(1)(A)), and Count 44 (conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation' of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h)). They each faced two other counts: Sotelo was charged with Counts 14 and 20 (distribution of one kilogram or more of heroin in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A)), and Gonzalez Jose was charged with Counts 18 and 36 (possession with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2 and 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A)). See Supp. App. 2-120.

B.

Sotelo and Gonzalez Jose were the only charged defendants to go to trial. An eight-day jury trial took place in April 2016. Neither defendant testified at trial. The Government presented the testimony of agents who investigated the Laredo organization and cooperating witnesses who participated in the organization’s criminal activities. These witnesses implicated So-telo and Gonzalez Jose as major players in the Laredo organization.

Among the most salient pieces of evidence presented were ledgers of drug transactions created by members of the Laredo organization. Law enforcement officers recovered ledgers from a search of the apartment of Joseph Torres and Ber-tin Torres Sanchez, cooperating witnesses who were among Antonio Laredo’s point-men in Philadelphia. At trial, United States Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) Special Agent Patrick Moynihan testified that their electronic devices contained ledgers, which denoted “proceeds from the sale of their heroin, plus distribution amounts [Torres and Torres Sanchez] would receive from the organization in Mexico. They also kept track of which distributors in Philadelphia they gave or distributed heroin to and collected money from.” Sotelo App. 186; see also Sotelo App. 187. Moreover, the ledgers contained a “supply distribution sheet” that “tracked the bulk amount of heroin that was being moved into Philadelphia.” Sotelo App. 190. That information contained entries indicating that “proceeds generated from the sale of heroin in Philadelphia ... was laundered back to Mexico.” Sotelo App. 190-91; see also Sotelo App. 194. Special Agent Moynihan testified that the ledgers indicated that Sotelo transported drugs and cash for the organization. See Sotelo App. 188-89. Torres, who was a cooperating witness for the Government, corroborated the agent’s testimony. He also explained that some of the ledger entries recorded bulk cash transfers to Sotelo or couriers who worked for him, who would transport the money to Mexico. See Sotelo App. 331-32, 339-40; 355. Torres Sanchez, who also created ledgers, discussed entries involving Sotelo and noted that Sotelo would send heroin deliveries with couriers. See Sotelo App. 466.

The ledgers also implicated Gonzalez Jose by detailing various transactions in which he transferred large amounts of cash to the Laredo organization and received heroin to distribute. Moreover, another set of ledgers was uncovered from a search of Gonzalez Jose’s home. Special Agent Moynihan testified as to the contents of the ledgers, which covered drug transactions from 2010 to 2014 and documented weights of heroin, the date of distribution, the price per kilogram, payments to members of the Laredo organization, and the ongoing balance with the Laredo organization.

In addition to the ledgers, testimony from cooperating witnesses also linked both defendants to the Laredo organization. The witnesses testified that Sotelo was responsible for delivering heroin from Chicago to Philadelphia and for transporting the proceeds back and eventually sending them to Mexico. Torres testified that he personally saw Sotelo transporting hundreds of thousands of dollars of drug proceeds from Philadelphia. See Sotelo App. 308-09, 319, 332, 349, 357. He added that Sotelo was uniquely able to “move a lot more money because he had construction equipment in his van ... [h]e liked to use that equipment in the work vehicle to transport the money in.” Sotelo App. 319. Torres testified that Sotelo provided him with the cash to physically transfer to Mexico, which he did approximately ten times. See Sotelo App 320, 343. Torres Sanchez also testified that he knew Sotelo would “receive the drugs in Chicago [from Mexico], and he would send it over [to Philadelphia] with his driver.” Sotelo App. 449. Torres Sanchez testified that he understood individuals who arrived from Chicago — to whom he would give thousands of dollars of cash each time — were drivers who worked for Sotelo; Sotelo App. 455-56. He also testified that on one such occasion, he saw a driver and Sotelo in the car together, Sotelo App. 449, and that he once supplied Sotelo with a vehicle containing a secret compartment, Sotelo App. 448.

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707 F. App'x 77, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-alejandro-sotelo-ca3-2017.