United States v. Espinoza

39 F. App'x 325
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedFebruary 26, 2002
DocketNo. 01-2469
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 39 F. App'x 325 (United States v. Espinoza) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh 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. Espinoza, 39 F. App'x 325 (7th Cir. 2002).

Opinion

ORDER

Eleazar Espinoza pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and was sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment. On appeal he maintains that the district court erred in finding him ineligible for a “safety valve” exception to the statutory minimum sentence. 18 U.S.C. § 8558(f); see also U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2. We affirm.

In November 2000 Espinoza was riding in a tractor-trailer cab driven by codefendant Jose Martin Alvarado when they were stopped by an Illinois police officer for speeding. While he was questioning Alvarado, the officer became suspicious that the defendants were transporting drugs. With Alvarado’s consent the officer proceeded to search the truck and found several bundles of cocaine under the sleeper compartment.

Espinoza and Alvarado were arrested and taken to Illinois police headquarters for separate questioning. According to the police report, Espinoza told the reporting officer, Sergeant L.H. Parker, that about two to three weeks before their arrest he and Alvarado had been introduced to a person named Miguel Vallejo by a Rick Marón of McAllen, Texas. The purpose of the introduction was for Espinoza and Alvarado to obtain a trucking job from Vallejo. Subsequently, Vallejo contacted Espinoza and offered him a job driving a truck to Chicago. Espinoza picked up the truck at Vallejo’s residence the same morning and was then instructed to go to a Walmart store located in Houston, Texas. There, Espinoza and Alvarado were met by an unidentified Hispanic male who handed Alvarado two duffel bags containing what Espinoza knew to be narcotics. Espinoza expected to be paid $5000 for the trip.

According to Parker’s report, Espinoza’s cell phone, which was equipped with caller I.D., rang “throughout” the interview. Parker asked Espinoza if he would be willing to answer the phone in an attempt to elicit information from the callers, and Espinoza agreed. Parker documented the numbers of four of these calls. The first caller was a female who referred to herself as “Claudia.” Espinoza told “Claudia” that he did not know her. “Claudia” then asked Espinoza whether they were still going out that night, and Espinoza again said that he did not know who she was. When the phone rang again, Parker told Espinoza to say that he was having phone trouble and that he would call back. Upon answering, Espinoza spoke in English and Spanish. He then said that he was having phone trouble, and the call was terminated. The police report offers no information regarding the third call, and as to the last, the report states only that a female caller asked Espinoza if he could talk.

In December 2000 Espinoza, with his attorney, attended a proffer meeting conducted by DEA agent Brian Latham. According to Latham’s report, Espinoza claimed during the proffer that he had no prior involvement with transporting drugs. When confronted with reports that he and his brother had been arrested in June 1995 with approximately 180 pounds of marijuana and three grams of cocaine, Espinoza stated that the marijuana was his brother’s. Espinoza, meanwhile, had pleaded guilty only to simple possession of the cocaine and had received a suspended sentence.

When Latham questioned him about the details of his November 2000 arrest, Espinoza provided substantially the same information that he had offered earlier to Parker: that he and Alvarado had been in[327]*327troduced to Vallejo by Marón; that two weeks later Vallejo offered him a job driving a truck to Chicago; and that Vallejo instructed him to go to a Walmart store where an unidentified Hispanic male gave Espinoza and Alvarado two duffel bags containing what Espinoza believed to be drugs. Espinoza further stated that it was not until he reached Oklahoma that he realized that Vallejo, accompanied by an unknown female and a person known as “Rudy,” was following him in a “trail” car.

Latham also asked Espinoza whether he had discussed his arrest with any of his cellmates. Espinoza denied doing so but could provide no explanation as to how his cellmates knew about the details of the arrest. Lastly, in response to questions about the phone calls he received during his earlier interview with Parker, Espinoza admitted that, although he had agreed to cooperate during those calls, he did not do so. Specifically, Espinoza admitted that he had covertly instructed one of the callers that he had been arrested.

Unsatisfied with the proffer, the government informed Espinoza that it was not accepted. Espinoza did not request or attempt a second proffer.

At sentencing both parties presented testimony regarding whether Espinoza’s safety-valve proffer had been fully forthcoming and truthful. Espinoza, testifying on his own behalf, stated that he did not know anyone other than Vallejo and Mar-on who was involved in drug trafficking. He identified the occupants in the trail car as Vallejo, a man “they call Rudy I think,” and an unknown female. He stated that he did not know who “Claudia” was, or whether she was the woman in the trail car, and denied admitting at his proffer that he did not cooperate during one of the calls he had received during his interview with Parker. According to Espinoza, that call was from “some girl I didn’t know who she was. She started asking me about if I was okay and I said, well, who is this. I didn’t know who it was. So I never gave her any information and she hung up.... She kept telling .me was I okay. I said who is this. I think she said some name, Laura or something, and I said I don’t know who you are.”

Espinoza also testified that he had no prior involvement in transporting drugs. He claimed no knowledge of the marijuana his brother was caught trafficking in 1995 and pointed out that he was never charged with any offense in relation to its transport. Further, he testified that he never told his cellmates that he had made any prior drug runs. Espinoza admitted, however, talking to his cellmates about how much imprisonment time he was going to get for his offense.

The government’s first witness was DEA agent Latham, who testified that he believed Espinoza was not being truthful from the start of the proffer because he answered no to the first question asked, i.e., whether he “had ever been involved with transporting drugs in the past.” Latham further testified that during the proffer Espinoza denied having discussed his November 2000 arrest with his cellmates, even when confronted with the fact that they knew intimate details about the arrest. Also according to Latham’s testimony, Espinoza admitted during the proffer that he had covertly informed the unidentified female caller that he had been arrested.

The government next offered the testimony of Espinoza’s cellmates, Joe Morris and Fred Skelton. Both of those witnesses stated that they had heard Espinoza talking about his November 2000 arrest and that he had admitted to transporting drugs on prior occasions.

[328]*328After hearing all the testimony, the district court found that Espinoza did not completely and truthfully provide all the evidence and information he had concerning his offense. In making its determination, the court stated that it looked to the credibility of the witnesses, specifically watching their manner, eye contact, body language, ability to field questions, and responsiveness.

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Related

Espinoza v. United States
537 U.S. 917 (Supreme Court, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
39 F. App'x 325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-espinoza-ca7-2002.