Submitted: March 12, 2019
Appeals from United States District Court for the District of
Minnesota
Before
GRUENDER, BENTON, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges.
GRASZ,
CIRCUIT JUDGE.
Alejandro
Llamas-Delgado ("Llamas") and Erick Parra-Salazar
("Parra") appeal their convictions for drug
trafficking crimes. Parra and another co-defendant, Gregorio
Ramirez-Maldonado ("Ramirez"), appeal the sentences
the district court[1]imposed after trial. We affirm.
I.
Background
In May
2017, law enforcement officials arrested Llamas, Ramirez, and
Parra following an extensive investigation into a suspected
drug conspiracy to distribute substantial quantities of
methamphetamine and cocaine. Because both Llamas and Parra
challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, many of the facts
introduced at trial regarding that investigation are
recounted below.
A.
Facts
For
purposes of this case, the investigation began in 2014 when
the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA")
intercepted a transport truck in California that was hauling
a 2005 Mini Cooper automobile. Earlier, Omar Ornelas-Garcia
("Ornelas") and A.L., a confidential informant who
testified at trial, had met Llamas at an auto body shop in
southern California that had constructed hidden compartments
in the Mini Cooper. A.L. later picked up the Mini Cooper
after Ornelas told him that he had loaded it with 22 pounds
of methamphetamine and seven or eight kilograms (15.4 or 17.6
pounds) of cocaine. A.L. met with a truck driver to load the
Mini Cooper onto the transport truck and subsequently sent a
text to Llamas to tell him the Mini Cooper was on its way.
The DEA learned about the transport truck and set up a
"controlled delivery" of the Mini Cooper. The DEA
met the truck driver at a parking lot in Plymouth, Minnesota,
unloaded the vehicle, parked it, and disabled it. The truck
driver then called someone named "Oscar," whom he
had been told to call when he arrived.
The DEA
encountered Llamas during the controlled delivery of the Mini
Cooper. Almost an hour after the truck driver's phone
call to "Oscar," Llamas and a woman pulled into the
parking lot. Llamas met with the truck driver, put California
license plates on the Mini Cooper, and unsuccessfully tried
to start it. Llamas eventually returned with several other
people and a tow truck. They loaded the Mini Cooper on the
tow truck and departed. The DEA did not arrest anyone but had
local police seize the Mini Cooper from the tow truck.
In
September 2015, the DEA again saw Llamas when agents were at
the Albertville Outlet Mall just west of the Twin Cities.
Llamas sat on a park bench holding two cell phones. A short
time later, Eric Winter drove into the parking lot. Llamas
walked directly to Winter's vehicle and got into the
front passenger seat. A few minutes later, Llamas got out of
the vehicle, walked to his own vehicle, and drove off. Police
officers stopped Llamas and Winter. The officers found about
an ounce of methamphetamine in the center console of
Winter's vehicle and $1, 880 cash on Llamas. The record
indicates they arrested Llamas but does not indicate whether
any further proceedings occurred.
In
January 2017, police officers began extensive surveillance
that included watching two houses linked to Llamas. These
houses were a large, single-family home on Bellvue Lane in
Brooklyn Center (the "Bellvue House") and a small
rambler-style home on Dupont Avenue in Minneapolis (the
"Dupont House"). The officers also identified
several vehicles linked to Llamas, including a Chevrolet
Silverado and a GMC Sierra. Between January and May 2017,
Llamas often drove between the two houses. Llamas would meet
with various people and engage in "short term
traffic," only staying at residences for a short time.
The officers testified Llamas would travel to locations using
non-direct routes and side streets and would circle around
the block in a manner consistent with one conducting
counter-surveillance. They did not observe Llamas engage in
any conventional work activities.
In
February 2017, police officers encountered Llamas and Ramirez
when tracking a cell phone that Llamas has previously
contacted. The officers had set up surveillance at a travel
plaza near Albert Lea, Minnesota. They spotted Ramirez
driving a Honda registered to Jacqueline Myra Machuca-Arana
("Machuca") with a passenger they later identified
as Machuca. The officers followed the vehicle to the Dupont
House. Llamas arrived and met with Machuca and Ramirez.
Machuca returned to the Honda and drove into the garage. Soon
after, Llamas left the residence carrying a duffle bag and
headed toward the garage. Llamas then drove away in another
vehicle, while Ramirez and Machuca drove off in Llamas's
Chevrolet. Ramirez and Machuca returned to the Dupont House
later that night. The next evening, the officers located
Ramirez and Machuca out driving the Honda, stopped the car,
and seized $20, 000 in cash from a modified storage area in
the rear seat.
In
March 2017, police officers received information from
investigators in California that Llamas would be meeting with
a money courier. The officers tracked Llamas and an unknown
male to a hotel near the Mall of America in Minnesota. They
also noted a car parked at the hotel: a Honda Odyssey with
California plates registered to Hubert Cuevas. Cuevas and
Llamas talked 28 times by phone that day. Two days later,
officers ...