United States v. Carlos Cardenas

234 F. App'x 892
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMay 9, 2007
Docket05-12336
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 234 F. App'x 892 (United States v. Carlos Cardenas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Carlos Cardenas, 234 F. App'x 892 (11th Cir. 2007).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

I.

Defendants Carlos Cardenas, Beatriz Marrero, and Rosa Sanchez appeal their convictions related to a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute Ecstacy and the laundering of the proceeds from that conspiracy. For the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM the appellants’ convictions.

II.

On June 27, 2003, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging twenty defendants with eighty-five counts relating to a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (“MDMA” or “Ecsta-cy”) and the laundering of the proceeds from the importation, sale, and distribution of the drug. Cardenas was charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and with possession with intent to distribute. Sanchez and Marrero were charged with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Sanchez also was charged with two counts of money laundering. Marrero also was charged with two counts of conducting financial transactions with drug proceeds.

The head of the drug conspiracy to which Cardenas, Marrero, and Sanchez were alleged to have belonged was Edward Diaz, a long time drug dealer who had been indicted for distribution of cocaine in the Middle District of Florida in 1998 and, as a result, had fled to Spain where he established a cigarette company. The company’s only venture was an attempt to export six containers of cigarettes to Venezuela, but the shipment was held by customs for failure to pay import duties. After this tobacco venture failed, Diaz returned to Miami under the name *894 Eduardo Gonzalez, and, returning to the drug trade, he began to import Ecstacy.

Diaz’s Ecstacy enterprise had several facets. Drug couriers would bring the Ec-stacy to Miami on commercial flights from Spain. Diaz then would sell the drugs and launder the money by having other participants in the conspiracy carry cash back to Spain to be given to his drug supplier. Cardenas, who had an established relationship with Diaz dating back to Diaz’s previous cocaine trade in Florida, was alleged to have acquired both Ecstacy and cocaine from Diaz for distribution. Marrero and Sanchez were alleged to have each made trips to Spain carrying cash to be delivered to Diaz’s drug supplier. In return for carrying the cash, the government contended that Marrero and Sanchez received a percentage of the total amount of monies transported.

On July 21, 2001, Diaz was arrested as a fugitive from the earlier charges in the Middle District of Florida and a search of his home ensued. During the search, police discovered several notebooks (“drug ledgers”) containing numbers and names; some of the names were coded or abbreviated. 1 Although he had been arrested on the earlier cocaine charges, it became clear to the DEA that Diaz was involved in a new drug enterprise. Shortly after his arrest, Diaz entered into a cooperation agreement with the government.

DEA Agent Timothy Reagan lead the investigation into Diaz’s Ecstacy dealings and used the drug ledgers seized from Diaz’s home to identify other individuals involved. Through a process of matching the names in the drug ledgers to other sources, Agent Reagan was able to identify those he believed to be smuggling Ecstacy into the country and those who were transporting money back to Spain. This tech-ñique, however, was unsuccessful in identifying some of the individuals named in the drug ledgers, so Agent Reagan asked Diaz for assistance.

One name that appeared in the drug ledgers was “Bee.” During the investigation of this name, Agent Reagan discovered a piece of paper in Diaz’s apartment with the letter “B” and four telephone numbers. Two of those telephone numbers matched the telephone numbers for a “Beatriz Marrero” in Diaz’s address book, and Diaz later testified at trial that “Bee” was, in fact, Marrero.

Diaz met Marrero shortly after returning to the United States from Spain to begin his Ecstacy business, and Marrero had been introduced to Diaz as someone who could lend him money. Marrero owned the San Mar Insurance Agency and, according to the government, loaned Diaz $100,000 to assist in the starting of his new drug organization. Marrero, on the other hand, testified that she met with Diaz to became a partner in his tobacco business with a focus on securing the release of the cigarettes being held in Venezuela. To secure the cigarettes, Marrero retained an attorney in Venezuela. The attempts were unsuccessful, however, and the cigarettes were incinerated shortly before Diaz’s arrest. After the initial business meeting between Diaz and Marrero to discuss the $100,000 loan, Diaz proposed that Marrero also begin taking drug money to Spain for him in return for a percentage of the proceeds. According to Diaz, she accepted his offer and also began changing the denominations of the cash from small bills to large bills to make the funds easier to transport.

At some point, Diaz became concerned that Marrero’s travel to Spain was suspi *895 cious. As such, Marrero proposed that Sanchez, her employee at the San Mar Insurance Agency, transport the money in her place. Diaz knew Sanchez from his interactions with Marrero at the insurance agency, and he paid her for the trips through Marrero. When attempting to identify Sanchez’s name in Diaz’s drug ledgers, Agent Reagan was unable to make a direct connection. Agent Reagan asked Diaz, and Diaz told him that the name “Rosa” in the drug ledgers referred to Rosa Sanchez.

In addition to taking money to Spain, Marrero and Sanchez also helped facilitate the purchase of two cars for Diaz. Although she had never worked there, Diaz’s girlfriend listed her employer as the San Mar Insurance Agency in connection with the purchase of a Ford Excursion. Agent Reagan also located a check from the San Mar Insurance Agency, which was signed by Sanchez, for partial payment on the Excursion. Diaz also purchased a Jaguar for $85,000 using a check from the San Mar Insurance Agency, which was signed by Marrero.

When arrested, Sanchez contended that she only had traveled to Spain on two occasions to deliver documents for the tobacco company. Marrero also denied any involvement in a money laundering or money courier operation when arrested and claimed to have met Diaz merely to become a partner in the tobacco business. With regard to the two cars purchased by Diaz and his girlfriend, Marrero claimed that these payments were loans to Diaz as a favor.

In one of Diaz’s drug ledgers, Agent Reagan found an entry for a “Carlos” accompanied by two telephone numbers. Agent Reagan then matched these two telephone numbers to an entry in Diaz’s address book for a “Carlos,” along with one additional telephone number. Using telephone records, Agent Reagan traced two of these three numbers to Maria Cardenas, who is the wife of appellant Carlos Cardenas. According to the government, Cardenas was one of Diaz’s drug distributors. Diaz had met Cardenas at a family event and began dealings in cocaine and marijuana in the early 1990s. After Diaz returned to the United States in 2000, he approached Cardenas about becoming an Ecstacy distributor. Cardenas preferred cocaine, however, and, in a compromise, Diaz supplied him with both cocaine and Ecstacy.

Cardenas, Marrero, and Sanchez proceeded to a joint jury trial, which included two other defendants.

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Bluebook (online)
234 F. App'x 892, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-carlos-cardenas-ca11-2007.