United States v. Cedeño-Mariano

971 F. Supp. 2d 225
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedSeptember 23, 2013
DocketCriminal No. 13-173 (FAB)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 971 F. Supp. 2d 225 (United States v. Cedeño-Mariano) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Cedeño-Mariano, 971 F. Supp. 2d 225 (prd 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

BESOSA, District Judge.

On April 3, 2013, a grand jury returned an indictment charging defendant Joel Ce-deño-Mariano (“Cedeño”) with one count of being an illegal alien in possession of ammunition, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(5)(A) and 924(a)(2). (Docket 15.) A three-day jury trial commenced on June 12, 2013; at the close of the government’s case on June 13, 2013, defendant Cedeño moved for acquittal pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29 (“Rule 29”). The Court denied defendant’s motion; at the close of all the evidence on June 14, 2013, defendant Cedeño renewed his motion, which the Court again denied. On that same date, a jury found defendant Cedeño guilty of Count One of the indictment. (Docket 67.)

On June 28, 2013, defendant Cedeño filed a motion pursuant to Rule 29(c)(2) to set aside the verdict and enter judgment of acquittal. (Docket 74.) The government responded on September 5, 2013. (Docket 76.) For the reasons discussed below, the Court DENIES the defendant’s motion and SUSTAINS the jury verdict.

BACKGROUND

I. Factual History

Without rehashing the entire trial here, the Court recounts background information and facts relevant to the Court’s legal analysis of particular issues. See United States v. Stierhoff, 549 F.3d 19, 21 (1st Cir.2008). The Court conveys the facts throughout the opinion in the light most favorable to the verdict. United States v. Rodriguez-Marrero, 390 F.3d 1, 6 (1st Cir.2004).

On March 24, 2013, while patrolling the waters to the east and southeast of Puerto Rico, Mr. Jose Garay — a pilot for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) Air and Marine Division — and other maritime agents on board Pilot Garay’s aircraft noticed a small boat (“yola”)1 approximately 4.5 to 5 miles from Puerto Rico’s [228]*228coast. (Day 2 at pp. 2-6, 40.) Using the aircraft maritime radar, Pilot Garay was able to observe the yola’s occupants and contents. Id. at 6-7. The CBP agents on the aircraft took particular interest in the yola because they noticed that although the yola was located in waters known to be a fishing area, the three individuals on board were not engaged in fishing and had no fishing equipment or gear in the yola. Id. at 7-8, 33-34. Instead, Pilot Garay noticed “[ejxcessive amounts of packages inside the vessel.” Id. at 8.

The aircraft climbed to a higher altitude so that the CBP agents could covertly surveil the yola and discern the individuals’ behavior and direction of travel. (Day 2 at p. 8.) Pilot Garay testified that he observed the yola making occasional southeastern and eastern movements in the water, which carried them in the direction of St. Croix — the nearest island southeast from Puerto Rico. Id. at 21. He also testified that the yola came to a complete rest in the ocean at one point without dropping an anchor, placing fishing buoys in the water, throwing any nets into the water, or engaging in any other type of fishing or recreational activity. Id. at 24, 26-27, 33. Upon observing the yola “moving erratically [with] no predetermined course,” Pilot Garay concluded that instead of “traveling from point A to point B, [they were] waiting for something or just loitering there.” Id. at 8-9. Subsequently, the CBP agents called the CBP Marine Interdiction Unit in Humacao, Puerto Rico (“Marine Unit”) to notify them of the yola and request that they take a closer look at it. Id. at 9.

CBP marine interdiction agent Eric A. Duff was patrolling the waterways of southeastern Puerto Rico when his Marine Unit received Pilot Garay’s call regarding the yola. He received information that the yola was “dead in the water” at that time, and “that [it] had white packages on board with three people on board.” (Day 2 pp. 39-40.) Agent Duff located the yola approximately five nautical miles southeast of the island of Puerto Rico; he testified that it took the Marine Unit somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes to reach the yola. Id. at 40. When the Marine Unit’s boat was approximately one mile away from encountering the yola, the yola started to move in a southeasterly direction. Id. At about one hundred feet away from the yola, Agent Duff turned on the Marine Unit boat’s siren and flashing blue law enforcement lights to signal the yola. Id. at 41. The three passengers in the yola acknowledged the Marine Unit by turning to look at the Marine Unit and by subsequently slowing the yola’s speed. Id. They then turned the yola 180 degrees, pointed its bow directly at the Marine Unit’s boat, and accelerated towards it. Id. Agent Duff testified that about 15 to 20 feet before the yola rammed the Marine Unit’s boat, one of the three individuals who was in the front of the yola threw an object at the Marine Unit’s boat that sank into the ocean. Id. He testified that the object was a dark, handheld object that appeared to be in a clear plastic bag, “like a Ziploc bag,” and that the object actually hit the Marine Unit’s boat “with a big thud” before falling into the water, never to be seen again.2 Id. at 41-42. Subsequent testimony by Agent Jason Hay corroborat[229]*229ed this occurrence; although his focus was on the other individuals’ hands in the yola, he claims to have seen an object fly out of his field of vision and believes that it fell into the ocean. Id. at 63. The yola continued to accelerate towards the Marine Unit’s boat, and shortly thereafter the front of the yola struck the left side of the Marine Unit’s boat, creating a 6 to 8-foot long gouge down the side of the boat. Id. at 42. Agent Duff testified that he believed that the yola rammed into the Marine Unit’s boat on purpose because “they accelerated into us.” Id. at 50. The yola then continued alongside the Marine Unit’s boat, past the stern until it was actually behind the boat, where it eventually stopped. Id. at 43. Agent Duff then maneuvered the Marine Unit’s boat and came up behind the yola so that the Marine Unit’s “boarding team” could board the yola. Id.

The boarding team consisted of marine interdiction agents Jason Hay and Eric Faria. They initially boarded the yola to investigate potential U.S. customs violations, immigration violations, and terrorist violations. (Day 2 at p. 66.) Testimony of Agent Hay revealed that there was so much fuel (see note 3, infra.) in the yola that the extra weight from the agents’ presence on board caused the yola to begin to “take on” ocean water. Id. at 67. Due to risk of sinking, the boarding team secured the three people on the yola and moved everybody from the yola to the Marine Unit’s boat. Id. At that time, they were not able to conduct an investigatory examination of the yola. Id. While on board the Marine Unit’s boat, the boarding team asked the three individuals several questions: whether they had any weapons, what their nationalities were, where they came from, where they were going, and if they had large amounts of monetary instruments. Id. at 69.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
971 F. Supp. 2d 225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-cedeno-mariano-prd-2013.