United States v. Oscar Villegas-Rojas

715 F.2d 564, 1983 U.S. App. LEXIS 16663

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Decided: September 22, 1983
• Docket: 82-5222
• Status: Published

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

Appellant, Oscar Villegas-Rojas, and four other persons were charged in a two count indictment with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, 21 U.S.C. § 955c, and possession with intent to distribute 15,700 pounds of marijuana, 21 U.S.C. § 955a. The defendants were on a vessel which was boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard on April 24, 1981. All defendants were ultimately convicted. Appellant’s only contention on appeal is that the evidence was not sufficient to support his conviction. We affirm.

Appellant advances the usual “mere presence” argument, contending that the proof showed only his presence on the vessel and that there was no evidence from which his knowledge, intent or participation could be inferred.

The vessel on which the appellant was apprehended was the Red Cloud, a 70-foot shrimp boat. It had a placard nailed to its bow with the name “Nacional Primero” concealing most of the name “Red Cloud”. It flew no flag and showed no home port. It was sighted by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter in the Yucatan Straits four to five days out of Panama, headed in a north to northwesterly direction. At that time its running lights were illuminated but it then extinguished all running lights and commenced evasive maneuvers running at erratic speeds. It was finally boarded for a document and safety inspection by the Coast Guard after an hour’s chase. When it was boarded all five individuals aboard were on the top deck where one of them, Gerald A. Jackson, identified himself as the master, stated that their last port of call was Panama and that their next port of call would be Key West, Florida. The vessel had no documents. The Coast Guard officer in charge observed that the boat had no shrimp or fishing gear rigged or in place, and that it had no ice. He also observed food and water aboard sufficient for five people on a five to six day voyage. In searching for the main beam number the officer looked into the main cargo hold, where the ice and shrimp would be kept on a working shrimp boat, and immediately saw 15,700 pounds of marijuana. The contraband had a wholesale value in excess of three million dollars.

Our review is confined to deter-' mining whether a reasonable trier of fact could find that the evidence established appellant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Bell, 678 F.2d 547, 548 (5th Cir.1982) (Unit B en banc), aff’d,-U.S. -, 103 S.Ct. 2398, 76 L.Ed.2d 638 (1983). In making that determination we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942).

The circumstances in this case involve much more than the mere presence of the defendant aboard a vessel carrying marijuana. He was on a comparatively small boat heavily laden with marijuana on a long voyage when apprehended in mid-voyage. The vessel flew no flag, had no home port and had masked its true name. The attempt to escape upon its being sighted by the Coast Guard was significant. The jury could also take into account the necessarily close relationship between the captain and crew, the marijuana’s obvious stowage in the main hold, the absence of equipment rigged for the vessel’s intended use, the requirement of several persons to load the inordinately large cargo, the improbability that drug smugglers would allow an outsider on their small boat carrying over three million dollars worth of contraband, and the failure of the defendant to differentiate himself in any respect from his fellows while the boat was fleeing or after it was boarded. We conclude that our analysis in United States v. Ceballos, 706 F.2d 1198 (11th Cir.1983) is controlling. See also United States v. Munoz, 692 F.2d 116 (11th Cir.1982), cert, denied,--U.S.-, 103 S.Ct. 1229, 75 L.Ed.2d 463 (1983); United States v. Freeman, 660 F.2d 1030 (5th Cir. 1981), cert, denied,-U.S.-, 103 S.Ct. 54, 74 L.Ed.2d 59 (1982); United States v. Mazyak, 650 F.2d 788 (5th Cir.1981), cert, denied, 455 U.S. 922, 102 S.Ct. 1281, 71 L.Ed.2d 464 (1982); United States v. DeWeese, 632 F.2d 1267 (5th Cir.1980), cert, denied, 454 U.S. 878,102 S.Ct. 358, 70 L.Ed.2d 188 (1981); United States v. Alfrey, 620 F.2d 551 (5th Cir.), cert, denied, 449 U.S. 938, 101 S.Ct. 337, 66 L.Ed.2d 160 (1980).

AFFIRMED.