United States v. Ismael Corrales-Portillo

779 F.3d 823, 2015 WL 1003853
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMarch 9, 2015
Docket14-1769, 14-1816
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 779 F.3d 823 (United States v. Ismael Corrales-Portillo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth 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. Ismael Corrales-Portillo, 779 F.3d 823, 2015 WL 1003853 (8th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

RILEY, Chief Judge.

A grand jury indicted brothers Jose Corrales-Portillo (Jose) and Ismael Cor-rales-Portillo (Ismael) for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and 846 (count one); possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (count two); and possessing heroin with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (count three). Jose pled guilty to count one, and the district court 1 sentenced him to 175 months imprisonment. Ismael proceeded to trial, and a jury convicted him of all three counts. The district court sentenced Ismael to concurrent sentences of *827 188 months imprisonment on each count. Jose appeals his sentence, and Ismael appeals his conviction and sentence. With appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm in each appeal.

1. BACKGROUND

A. Facts

On July 3, 2013, a confidential informant—seeking to avoid drug charges of his own—agreed to cooperate with an ongoing narcotics investigation by Officer Anthony Ballantini and Sergeant Kirk Bagby of the Des Moines, Iowa, Police Department (department). The informant, who had not previously cooperated with the department, provided detailed information about his supplier, an older Hispanic man he knew as Compa (later identified as Jose). To assist with the investigation, the informant, in the presence of the police, made a recorded call and texted Jose to arrange to purchase three pounds of methamphetamine. The informant told officers Jose obtained the drugs from Arizona and would transport them from Grand Island, Nebraska, to Des Moines the following week. This information corroborated what the officers had learned about the informant’s drug business earlier in their investigation.

On July 13, 2013, the informant advised the police that Jose was in Grand Island and would deliver the drugs to Des Moines later that day. Contacting the officers throughout the day, the informant forwarded Jose’s texts and advised the officers of the time and place he was to meet Jose and where Jose had hidden the drugs on his vehicle. The informant told the officers he expected Jose to be driving a vehicle with Arizona or Nebraska license plates because the informant previously had seen Jose deliver drugs in Grand Island with a blue Ford truck with Nebraska plates.

Before the meeting, Officer Ballantini instructed the informant to depart from the gas station where he was to meet Jose by driving south if he learned the drugs were in Jose’s vehicle and to depart by driving north to a local garage if he was unsure where the drugs were. Officer Ballantini devised this signal because he suspected Jose might transport the drugs in a “ghost vehicle” to avoid police detection. 2

As Jose neared Des Moines, officers began surveilling the informant’s residence and the gas station where he was to meet Jose. When the informant left for the meeting with Jose, Officer Ballantini followed him. Sergeant Cynthia Donahue was already at the station. Having parked her unmarked car near the gas station, Sergeant Donahue positioned herself inside the station. Sergeant Ronald Kouski waited nearby in a marked vehicle with a drug dog to make a traffic stop if necessary.

The informant arrived at the gas station and parked his car. Minutes later, Jose, an older Hispanic man, arrived in a blue Ford Ranger truck with Nebraska plates and met with the informant. As they met, Sergeant Donahue observed Ismael pumping gas into a Lexus with Nebraska plates. Ismael was watching the meeting and making eye contact with Jose and the informant. Sergeant Donahue deduced Ismael was providing counter-surveillance for Jose. When Ismael finished pumping gas, he parked his car and headed toward the building. Sergeant Donahue then lost track of Ismael as she left the building and *828 returned to her ear to keep an eye on the Lexus.

At the meeting, Jose told the informant the drugs were inside the gas tank of the Ford truck. The informant testified Ismael joined the meeting, and Jose introduced him as his “partner,” explaining he was “showing [Ismael] the ropes,” “the spots where people can meet up,” and “the people” so Ismael could see “what the person looks like” and know “what to do,” enabling Ismael to “take over” Jose’s drug deliveries. Neither Officer Ballantini nor Sergeant Donahue witnessed Ismael make contact with the informant—both testified they were repositioning at the relevant time. The informant told Jose to follow him to a nearby garage to unload the drugs. Jose returned to his truck and Ismael joined him as a passenger, leaving the Lexus in the parking lot.

With Jose and Ismael following in the Ford truck, the informant drove south out of the gas station. As he drove, the informant called Officer Ballantini to tell him the drugs were in the gas tank of Jose’s truck. When Jose abruptly turned into a restaurant parking lot—abandoning the informant—Officer Ballantini directed Sergeant Kouski to stop the truck. Once stopped, Jose and Ismael tried to exit the vehicle before Sergeant Kouski instructed them to stay put. Sergeant Kouski suspected Jose and Ismael were trying to distance themselves from contraband.

Jose and Ismael each presented Arizona identification-Jose’s was false and Ismael’s was valid. They told Sergeant Kouski they were traveling from Kearney, Nebraska, to Peoria, Illinois, to find roofing work. Drawing on his own roofing experience, Sergeant Kouski was skeptical of their story based in part on their lack of roofing tools. With Jose’s consent, Sergeant Kouski searched the truck and deployed his drug dog. The dog alerted to the presence of contraband, and Sergeant Kouski notified the narcotics officers, who arrived to assist with the search.

After removing the bed of the truck, the officers found hidden in the truck’s gas tank three one-pound bags of methamphetamine and eleven one-pound bags of heroin with an estimated street value of more than $2 million. 3 The officers also seized other evidence, including the cell phone Jose used to arrange the deal with the informant, and placed Jose and Ismael under arrest.

The police impounded the Lexus and searched it as well. When his drug dog alerted to the back seat, Sergeant Kouski removed the seat and located a secret compartment in the gas tank. Although the compartment was empty, Sergeant Kouski testified his dog alerted to the odor of narcotics.

B. Procedural History

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
779 F.3d 823, 2015 WL 1003853, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ismael-corrales-portillo-ca8-2015.