IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 01-10683
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
CARLOS CARO,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 4:00-CR-179-2-Y
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January 30, 2002
Before DAVIS, BENAVIDES, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Carlos Caro appeals his conviction and sentence for
possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of
cocaine. He argues that the evidence was insufficient to support
his conviction. To establish possession with intent to
distribute cocaine, the Government must prove beyond a reasonable
doubt that the defendant (1) knowingly (2) possessed the cocaine
(3) with intent to distribute it. United States v. Medina, 161
*
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that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent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.
No. 01-10683
-2-
F.3d 867, 873 (5th Cir. 1998), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1043
(1999).
Although Caro correctly points out that his actions in
relation to the Ford Taurus in which the cocaine was hidden**
could be construed as legal activity, i.e., looking in the
shopping bags for something, the totality of the circumstances
suggested illegal activity. The police knew from their
confidential source that the home at which Caro was staying
belonged to Billy Arredondo, whose source of narcotics was a
Mexican male living in Irving, Texas. Caro is a male who was
living in Irving Texas, and the Taurus bore Mexican plates.
Agent Gonzalez had already arranged to purchase narcotics from
Arredondo. Although the deal was not completed, he had been
inside Arredondo’s home where he was shown several kilograms of
cocaine and he noticed a strong odor of marijuana. Arredondo’s
common law wife, Erica Sotelo, testified that the Taurus was not
the car in which Caro initially arrived on August 5, and that it
was not at her house when she went to bed after midnight on
August 8, the date the Taurus arrived. Caro and Saenz were the
only two who entered or seemed to be familiar with the Taurus,
and some of their belongings were inside of it. Other than the
money or the cocaine found in the Taurus’ secret compartment,
nothing retrieved from the Taurus fit the description of the
**
Some of the cocaine was found inside the house, but
Caro’s argument in this court relates only to the cocaine found
in the Taurus.
No. 01-10683
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rectangular object covered with the blue shirt, which Caro’s
girlfriend carried from their truck to the Taurus and which Caro
placed inside the Taurus. The keys to the Taurus were found
inside a pair of jeans in the truck that Caro and Saenz were
driving. Caro was wearing jeans and a blue shirt when he
returned to Arredondo’s house on August 8, but later changed into
yellow shorts to go to the lake, indicating that the jeans found
in the truck were his.
Considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the
Government with all reasonable inferences and credibility choices
made in support of the verdict, United States v. Ivy, 973 F.2d
1184, 1188 (5th Cir. 1992), the evidence at trial was sufficient
to establish knowing possession.
AFFIRMED.