United States v. Espinoza-Mora

205 F. App'x 886
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedNovember 15, 2006
DocketNos. 05-3162-cr,05-4176-cr, 05-5593-cr, 05-6418-cr
StatusPublished

This text of 205 F. App'x 886 (United States v. Espinoza-Mora) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second 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-Mora, 205 F. App'x 886 (2d Cir. 2006).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Defendants-Appellants Cesar EspinozaMora and Miguel Mejia appeal from judgments of conviction entered May 17, 2005 and October 7, 2005, respectively, in the Southern District of New York, following a guilty plea before the Hon. Denise L. Cote, Judge. Victor Rivera and Gabriel Rivera appeal from judgments of conviction entered on August 24, 2005 and November 28, 2005, respectively, in the Southern District of New York, following a two-week jury trial before the Hon. Denny Chin, Judge. Each defendant is charged with membership in the same conspiracy to distribute cocaine — a trafficking operation that brought some hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into the United States from Mexico, where the cocaine was supplied by a trafficker named Cesar Lopez Sanchez, or “Paco.” On May 13 and September 30, 2005, Judge Cote sentenced EspinozaMora and Mejia, respectively, to 87 months’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release, and to 292 months’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release. On August 16 and November 7, 2005, Judge Chin sentenced Victor Rivera and Gabriel Rivera, respectively, to 97 months’ imprisonment and four years’ supervised release, and to 130 months’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release.

We assume the parties’ familiarity with the facts, procedural history, and issues on appeal. Victor and Gabriel Rivera challenge their convictions, and Victor Rivera and Mejia challenge their sentences. For the reasons that follow, we affirm as to those defendants. Espinoza-Mora’s coun[889]*889sel has filed a motion to withdraw, pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), on the ground that there are no non-frivolous bases for Espinoza-Mora’s appeal. The Government moves for summary affirmance as to Espinoza-Mora’s conviction and sentence. For the reasons that follow, we grant the motion to withdraw, and affirm.

1. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Victor and Gabriel Rivera both challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting their convictions. Our standard of review on this issue is highly deferential:

The evidence presented at trial should be viewed in the light most favorable to the Government, crediting every inference that the jury might have drawn in favor of the Government. We consider the evidence presented at trial in its totality, not in isolation, but may not substitute our own determinations of credibility or relative weight of the evidence for that of the jury. We defer to the jury’s determination of the weight of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses, and to the jury’s choice of the competing inferences that can be drawn from the evidence. Accordingly, we will not disturb a conviction on grounds of legal insufficiency of the evidence at trial if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

United States v. Bruno, 383 F.3d 65, 82 (2d Cir.2004) (quotations omitted).

Both Victor and Gabriel Rivera argue that the evidence was insufficient to support their convictions for participation in the conspiracy. Relying on United States v. Gore, 154 F.3d 34, 40 (2d Cir.1998), both defendants argue that the evidence shows at most a buyer-seller relationship between the Rivera defendants and the broader conspiracy, and that such a relationship is insufficient to establish their participation in the conspiracy.

“A defendant may be found guilty of conspiracy on the basis of evidence from which it can reasonably be inferred that he knew of the existence of the scheme alleged in the indictment and knowingly joined and participated in it.” United States v. Flaharty, 295 F.3d 182, 200 (2d Cir.2002) (quotation marks and alterations omitted). “Though ... a mere buyer-seller relationship is not necessarily a conspiracy, a defendant may be deemed to have agreed to join a conspiracy if there is something more, some indication that the defendant knew of and intended to further the illegal venture, that he somehow encouraged the illegal use of the goods or had a stake in such use.” United States v. Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp., 871 F.2d 1181, 1191 (2d Cir.1989) (quotation marks and citation omitted). “The defendant need not know the identities of all of the other conspirators, nor all of the details of the conspiracy.” Gore, 154 F.3d at 40. However, “the government must demonstrate that the accused had some knowledge of [the conspiracy’s] unlawful aims.” United States v. Lanza, 790 F.2d 1015, 1023 (2d Cir.1986) (original emphasis).

In Gore, the sole — insufficient—evidence related to a single drug purchase by the defendant from a Government informant. Here, by contrast, the testimony of co-conspirators at trial showed that Gabriel Rivera received cocaine from the conspiracy in a number of transactions, and that he, Victor Rivera and other conspirators distributed that cocaine in New York. Drug proceeds were packaged for distribution and delivery in Gabriel Rivera’s apartment. The evidence at trial included recordings of telephone calls between Gabriel Rivera and a coconspirator regarding the conspiracy’s business. In [890]*890addition, the conspiracy’s business was discussed at Gabriel Rivera’s apartment when both Riveras were present. Further testimony from a co-conspirator and from a Detective of the New York Police Department showed that on one occasion Victor Rivera, driving a car belonging to Paco, personally took $70,000 in drug proceeds from Mejia and delivered it to a co-conspirator. Although the Riveras may have been relatively minor players in the conspiracy, the evidence — when viewed in the light most favorable to the Government — suffices to establish that they were both knowing participants.

Gabriel Rivera, as to whom the jury found that the amount of cocaine with which he was personally involved or which was reasonably foreseeable to him was five kilograms or more, argues that the evidence was insufficient to support that finding. He observes that the Government’s witnesses testified inconsistently as to the amount of cocaine which he purchased, and that the evidence would support a finding that he purchased as little as 3.5 kilograms or as much as 6.5 kilograms. “[I]t is well-settled that when reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence we defer to the jury’s assessment of witness credibility and the jury’s resolution of conflicting testimony.” United States v. Glenn, 312 F.3d 58, 64 (2d Cir.2002). The evidence supports a finding that Gabriel Rivera personally purchased and distributed more than five kilograms of cocaine. We therefore do not need to consider the extent to which the larger amounts of cocaine in which the overall conspiracy dealt were “reasonably foreseeable” to him. See, e.g., United States v. Jackson, 335 F.3d 170

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205 F. App'x 886, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-espinoza-mora-ca2-2006.