United States v. Felix Utra, AKA El Conde

447 F. App'x 956
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·Decided November 30, 2011·No. 11-11240·Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Felix Utra appeals his convictions and 41-month total sentence for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute less than 50 kilograms of marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(D), 846, and possession with the intent to distribute less than 50 kilograms of marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(D). He argues that the district court erroneously: (1) denied his motion to suppress; and (2) assigned him a base offense level of 20 under U.S.S.G. § 2Dl.l(a)(5), (c)(1). For the reasons set forth below, we affirm Utra’s convictions and sentences.

*958 I.

Utra was a cell leader within a large-scale wholesale narcotics organization led by Luis Castillo. Castillo became involved in marijuana trafficking as early as 2004, and investigators conducted wiretaps on his cell phones from December 2009 until May 2010. Over a series of phone calls in December 2009 and January 2010, Castillo and Utra discussed marijuana that Utra wanted Castillo to sell, meetings to allow Castillo to see marijuana samples, and the transfer of mai'ijuana from Utra to Castillo.

On January 5, 2010, Utra and Castillo arranged a meeting regarding marijuana Castillo was considering buying from Utra. They met later that day, and agents followed Utra and pulled him over in a traffic stop after he left Castillo’s house. Utra had half a pound of marijuana in his car. On January 20, 2010, Utra and Castillo agreed to meet at a restaurant called Polio Tropical so that Utra could bring Castillo a sample of marijuana. Utra drove a friend’s, Juan Arcallo’s, car to the meeting, and afterwards, he returned to Arcallo’s house. Utra called Arcallo during or immediately following the meeting. After Utra left Arcallo’s house, agents conducted a consensual search of the house and seized 1,678 grams of marijuana in heat-sealed plastic bags and an additional 17.1 grams of marijuana found in a kitchen drawer.

Utra was indicted on June 3, 2010, and on June 22, 2010, Denis Gulakowski, a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, submitted an application for a search warrant to search Utra’s house. According to the affidavit, a number of phone calls and several meetings took place between Utra and Castillo in December 2009 and January 2010. Utra still owned the house described in the search warrant, and the house was occupied when Gulakowski drove past it during the weekend of June 19-20, 2010. A magistrate judge issued the search warrant, and on June 23, 2010, officers arrested Utra and searched his house. While executing the arrest warrant, the officers found an open duffel bag containing marijuana in heat-sealed plastic bags approximately two feet from where Utra was arrested. The duffel bag contained 2,022 grams of marijuana. Utra had a handgun in his hand when the officers came upon him. After Utra was arrested, the officers executed the search warrant, and they found scissors, a heat sealer, several cell phones, and a bottle containing marijuana clippings.

Utra filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized during the search of his home, arguing that there was no probable cause because the information in the affidavit was stale. The district court denied the motion to suppress as to the duffel bag, its contents, and the firearm because they were in plain view and properly seized during Utra’s arrest. The court also denied the motion to suppress as to the items found during the execution of the search warrant. The court found that the information in the affidavit was not stale, and based on the nature of the crime, it was reasonable for the magistrate who issued the warrant to conclude that evidence likely would be found at Utra’s house.

At trial, Gulakowski testified that a typical marijuana joint had, at most, one gram of marijuana in it and that at least 2,022 marijuana joints could have been made from the marijuana in the duffel bag.

In preparing the presentence investigation report (“PSI”), the probation officer calculated a base offense level of 20, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2Dl.l(a)(5), because Utra’s offense involved the possession with the intent to distribute between 40 and 60 kilograms of marijuana. Utra objected to *959 the PSI, arguing that only 38.5 grams of marijuana should have been attributed to him and that his base offense level should only have been 18 based on that amount. Specifically, the four pounds of marijuana found in Arcallo’s house should not have been attributed to him because there was no evidence connecting him to that marijuana.

At the sentencing hearing, the government argued that Arcallo previously had been convicted for growing marijuana, Utra called him before and after the meeting at Polio Tropical, Utra drove his car to the meeting at Polio Tropical, he was a member of the conspiracy, and the marijuana found at his house was packaged for drug trafficking. The court stated that the marijuana was within the scope of the conspiracy and sentenced Utra to 41 months’ imprisonment for Counts 1 and 2, to be served concurrently.

II.

In reviewing a district court’s denial of a motion to suppress, we review the district court’s factual findings for clear error and the “application of law to those facts de novo.” United States v. Jiminez, 224 F.3d 1243, 1247 (11th Cir.2000). “We construe the facts in the light most favorable to the party who prevailed below.” United States v. Hooshmand, 931 F.2d 725, 735 (11th Cir.1991). If there is a Fourth Amendment violation, we review the error to determine whether it was harmless or harmful. United States v. Khoury, 901 F.2d 948, 960 (11th Cir.1990). An error is harmful where “there is a reasonable possibility that the evidence complained of might have contributed to the conviction.” Id. (quotation omitted). “In other words, if the jury might have relied on the unconstitutional evidence in reaching its verdict, then the error was harmful unless the other evidence of guilt was so overwhelming that the defendant suffered no prejudice from the admitted evidence.” Id.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

United States v. Felix Utra, AKA El Conde, 447 F. App'x 956 (11th Cir. 2011).

447 F. App'x 956 (United States v. Felix Utra, AKA El Conde) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

United States v. Sepulveda
115 F.3d 882 (Eleventh Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Toler
144 F.3d 1423 (Eleventh Circuit, 1998)
United States v. Jernigan
341 F.3d 1273 (Eleventh Circuit, 2003)
United States v. Garcia-Bercovich
582 F.3d 1234 (Eleventh Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Ghertler
605 F.3d 1256 (Eleventh Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Hooshang Hooshmand
931 F.2d 725 (Eleventh Circuit, 1991)
United States v. Alberto Rodriguez Jiminez
224 F.3d 1243 (Eleventh Circuit, 2000)
United States v. Harris
20 F.3d 445 (Eleventh Circuit, 1994)