UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
For the Fifth Circuit
No. 97-40152
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
VERSUS
RUBEN LEONIDES-JAIMES; JOSE MATILDE NAJERA AGUIRRE;
ANDRES SANTANA-HERRERA; PEDRO BERRUETE-MALDONADO,
Defendants-Appellants.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
(B-96-CR-212-2)
December 22, 1997
Before WISDOM, WIENER, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
A jury convicted the defendants/appellants of conspiracy to
transport and the transportation of undocumented aliens within the
United States.2 In this consolidated appeal, the defendants argue
that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support
their respective convictions. We find that the evidence is
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the Court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
2
See 18 U.S.C. § 371 and 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii).
sufficient to support the convictions. We affirm.
We will not disturb a conviction attacked on the basis of
evidence sufficiency if, viewing the evidence in the light most
favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have
found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable
doubt.3 Among the prosecution’s evidence in this case was the
testimony of Senior Border Patrol Agent Gilberto Perez. Perez
testified that on July 26, 1997, acting on an anonymous tip, he
encountered the defendants in an area notorious for the smuggling
of aliens. The defendants’ appearances matched the descriptions
given to Perez by the anonymous caller. Agents took finger prints
and photographs of the defendants, but released them later that
morning. The following night, electronic sensors alerted the
Border Patrol to possible smuggling of aliens in the area
identified by the anonymous caller the previous night. Perez
proceeded to that location and observed the defendants in two
separate vehicles, at least one of which was also occupied by
illegal aliens.4 Agents found plastic bags containing women’s and
children’s clothing in the bed of one of the trucks. A rational
trier of fact could reasonably have concluded that these items
belonged to illegal aliens being transported by the defendants. As
such, the jury could reasonably have found the essential elements
of the two crimes beyond a reasonable doubt.
3
Guzman v. Lensing, 934 F.2d 80, 82 (5th Cir. 1991)
4
The defendants appear to have used one of the trucks for the
purpose of conducting counter-surveillance.
2
AFFIRMED.
3