United States v. Christopher Aucoin

390 F. App'x 336
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedAugust 3, 2010
Docket09-30319
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 390 F. App'x 336 (United States v. Christopher Aucoin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth 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. Christopher Aucoin, 390 F. App'x 336 (5th Cir. 2010).

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

In this appeal, four defendants convicted of participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in the New Iberia, Louisiana, area ask us to reverse their convictions. They bring a variety of challenges to them convictions and sentences, which we consider defendant by defendant, proceeding in alphabetical order. After reviewing the trial record, briefs, and oral arguments relating to each defendant, we affirm the judgment of the district court as to each defendant.

I.

We begin with a recitation of the facts based on the evidence presented at trial, drawing reasonable inferences in favor of the jury’s verdict.

By 2002, Bounthong Xaphilom was manufacturing methamphetamine, commonly known simply as “meth,” in a shed behind his home in New Iberia and selling it through at least one local dealer, Eng Champkungsing. On February 26, Iberia Parish sheriffs deputies went to Xaphi-lom’s home in the course of investigating reports that Xaphilom was involved in meth distribution. They found him outside the shed, holding money with crystalline powder on it. After his arrest, Xaphi-lom gave officers permission to search the shed. Inside, they discovered the shed to be a meth lab, and called in a hazmat team. They also discovered meth buried at various locations on the property, seizing 1,028 grams total.

After a state conviction, Xaphilom found himself in jail in Iberia Parish, where he met Phanut Phonchinda some time in 2002. At some point during their time together Xaphilom told Phonchinda that he had been in the fourth year of a five-year plan at the time of his arrest. He wanted to unite the Asian gangs of southwest Louisiana into a drug-dealing alliance called the Nineteen Dragons, and he told Phonchinda that he planned to resume his plan when he was released. In the meantime, Champkungsing continued to sell meth, obtaining it from sources other than Xa-philom.

Xaphilom also met a man named Arthur Basaldua in the Iberia Parish jail. Basal-dua, who was from California, arrived in 2004. According to Phonchinda, the two discussed their experience in the drug business and began plans to work together. Xaphilom was not the only one talking to Basaldua about drugs. Through phone calls arranged by Dominic Sonemangkhala, Basaldua, while in jail, contacted various associates, including Due Pham, regarding the possibility of selling drugs in Louisiana. These calls often concerned the “construction business” (ie., the drug trade) and “windshield wipers” (ie., meth). So-nemangkhala was no stranger to the drug trade or to law enforcement. A narcotics task force — a partnership between local authorities and the FBI — had hired Sone-mangkhala as an informant after his arrest on drug charges to help them dismantle the Asian drug trade in southwest Louisi *339 ana. As he helped Basaldua contact the outside world, he helped the FBI monitor Basaldua’s communications.

After his release, Xaphilom found himself incarcerated again, this time in Bakersfield, California. He and Basaldua stayed in touch, however, through the mail and Sonemangkhala-arranged phone calls. One of Basaldua’s letters, dated February 13, 2006, asked if Xaphilom was “still down with that power move that we have plan[n]ed out for that world.” They also discussed plans to unite after the two regained their freedom. In early 2006, after they were both out of jail, they moved into a house on Henry Street in New Iberia, Louisiana, and began selling meth. Whereas Xaphilom manufactured meth before his arrest in 2002, he and Basaldua now turned to sources in California, including Pham, to supply their new business. Basaldua generally handled the drugs, while Xaphilom used his local connections to find customers and dealers. Xaphilom told his former customer and dealer Champkungsing about Basaldua, and Champkungsing purchased from Basaldua on several occasions, selling to support his habit. Xaphilom also contacted a former coworker, Sammy Thibodeaux, another user-dealer, to tell him he had the “hook up.” Wfiien Thibodeaux hesitated to buy from Basaldua, whom he did not know, Xaphilom told him that the only way he would get any meth was through Basaldua. Thibodeaux began purchasing an eight ball or two each week from Basaldua, using some and selling the rest, paying about $200 each time. Other times, Thibodeaux would make larger purchases, up to a half-pound at a time, costing $8,000. The pair also sold to Phonchinda, whom Xaphilom had told about his Nineteen Dragons ambitions in jail, seven times over a three-week period before Phonchinda was arrested. Aucoin, who had met Basaldua in jail, also purchased an eight ball a month, using some and selling the rest to fund his habit.

Another customer was Sonemangkhala, the informant. At a meeting arranged by Basaldua, Basaldua and Xaphilom agreed to sell and Sonemangkhala agreed to purchase an ounce of meth for $2,000. Sone-mangkhala, as an informant, first purchased an ounce on June 9' 2006, at the Henry Street residence. On June 30, he purchased another ounce at Henry Street. For his third purchase, he traveled to Los Angeles, California, to purchase directly from Pham. He met Pham behind a gas station and purchased three ounces at a discounted price of $2,400. For each purchase, the FBI gave him cash immediately before and received the drugs immediately after.

As time went on, Basaldua became increasingly fearful that the FBI was watching him. Meth is known to cause paranoia, and like his dealers, Basaldua used the drug frequently. To quell his anxiety, he required female acquaintances to empty their purses to make sure they were not wired, and he forced a coconspirator, Israel Perez, to ingest meth to prove he was not a police officer. To protect the Henry Street residence, he hired Aucoin to install security cameras. When that proved unsatisfactory, Xaphilom arranged for Basal-dua to spend several nights a week with Misay Chandakham, in her Lafayette, Louisiana, townhouse. In January 2007, Basaldua moved there full-time with his girlfriend and her children. 1 Chandakham was an addict, and he paid her in meth. She also pooled her money with her friends to purchase “party packs” of meth *340 that they would consume. Finally, after Basaldua paid to bail her out of jail after an arrest for passing bad checks, Basaldua made her move out of the townhome. He changed the locks and attempted to install a security camera on the roof, though he could not get it to work. All through Basaldua’s residency, Chandakham had paid the rent on time and in full, even though she lacked a job or any other apparent source of income.

The conspiracy began to unravel in February 2007. On February 26, Basaldua and Perez were arrested after a high-speed chase in Youngsville, Louisiana. Officers found a bag containing 121 grams of meth, a scale, and a handgun, all of which had been thrown from the car. Basaldua managed to get out of jail, but on March 19 he shot two bail bondsmen. A manhunt involving approximately fifty law-enforcement personnel ensued. Hoping Aucoin could tell them where to find Basaldua, members of the task force went to Au-coin’s father’s home to ask Aucoin if he could help. Although they received no help from Aucoin, they did see some success, as Aucoin agreed to a meeting two days later to discuss his relationship with Basaldua. At that meeting, without notice of his Miranda

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Related

United States v. Eversole
783 F. Supp. 2d 972 (S.D. Texas, 2011)
Aucoin v. United States
179 L. Ed. 2d 353 (Supreme Court, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
390 F. App'x 336, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-christopher-aucoin-ca5-2010.